The Prince and the Pauper
by Mina Lisly
Summary: Jace is the prince of a powerful kingdom. Clary is just a girl living all alone in the forest. What will happen between the two of them? Will they be able to pass through all those boundaries around them? OC. AH. AU.
1. Fairies

Clary was just swimming by the river like every morning when she felt something completely off, as if someone was watching her from afar. She looked around but didn't see anyone, so she just shook the feeling off. Apart from rabbits and squirrels, who could actually see her in this abandoned area?

No one ever came in this part of the forest, and she was very fine with it, she didn't like to mingle. She didn't like people in general. Every time she had an acounter with someone from town, it always ended up with her liking a little less humans. They would tease her for her looks, for her lineage, for her way to be always somewhere else in her mind. So now, she would always do her best to avoid them.

When she got bored of swimming around, she left the water and laid on the grass, enjoying the last rays of sun to naturally dry. Like she said, it's not like anyone came over there anymore. People thought this part of the forest was inhabited by demons. Just what she needed to add to her reputation in town: demons. Some people were cruel enough to say that she'd invoke them. Some people told their children that if they didn't behave, Clary would put a spell on them. People were just mean.

Once completely dry, she put on her white dress and picked up her basket before penetrating a little bit further in the dark forest. She knew exactly where to put her feet in order not to fall or to get trapped by branches and after half an hour of walking blindly according to her instincts, she arrived in a meadow clearing full of different colorful flowers.

She delicately picked some of them, choosing according to her needs and then she sat there, thinking back on her life all of the sudden. Was this how she was going to end? Rejected by others and rejecting others? Probably? Did she want it? Totally! Her father used to tell her that she was destined to change the world, that her heart could touch every one, that there wasn't a thing she couldn't do.

And still he died. She and her mother had tried to cure him from this unknown disease that came over him, but the ill got the better of them. And now her mother was living in another kingdom, trying to make a new life for herself.

She had proposed Clary to come with her, but Clary said that she didn't want to. She couldn't live with another man for her father. She preferred to live in her pain, hating the whole wide world. And it's not like they wanted her to live them anyway. They were just seconds away to officially call her the Wicked Witch of the Woods.

Clary sighed and got back up before walking all the way back to her small cabin. It used to be nothing, just a shelter, but little by little, she had transformed it into a house and then into her home. It wouldn't be rare that she'd sometimes even give shelter to a wounded animal and heal it back to life.

Just another reason to hate them all. So many of them hunted just for the pleasure of hunting, not caring if they left motherless babies behind, or wounded animals who would never be able to run or jump like before. She hated people so much!

Once in front of her cabin, she noticed that the door was open which surprised her a little, but she thought it was probably the wind, and so she told herself that she'd have to work on her door a little more before the beginning of autumn. She entered her house and dropped her basket of shock when she saw a smirking man sitting on her chair and looking directly at her with his golden eyes.

_Golden eyes_! And after people called _her_ witch! She was completely normal compared to him. He was unnatural. Maybe a fairy or something. Not only his eyes, but his skin, his hair, even his damn smirk were golden. Clary looked at him, trying to swallow back her shock and to understand what he was doing in her cabin.

She thought about asking him, but she realized that she hadn't really spoken to anyone in almost three years, so her voice might sound funny. So she simply did as if it was completely normal, because if he was a fairy after all, he wouldn't be able to say she was a bad host or something.

She gathered her basket and her flowers, feeling his intensive gaze on her and then she took her pitcher and went to the wheel to take some water. Once back inside, she gave him her unique goblet, the one she struggled to make for herself when she first found this place, and she leaned against the doorframe. It wasn't like she could sit anywhere else, she only had a table, a chair and a bed. And if she sat on the bed, it might actually be rude to the fairy.

He looked at her, his eyes glimmering with something she did not understand before he glanced around the place, his hand on the goblet, but not quite taking it to his lips. She waited for him to do or say something, but he didn't, his eyes wandering to every small corner of her cabin before going back steady on her.

Their eyes locked, Clary wondering for a split second if it was okay for her to stare at him like that, but not dwelling on it. His eyes seemed to burn holes on her whole body, looking right though her, directly into her soul, and so she shifted a little on herself, clearing her throat in the hope that he would stop looking at her like that.

"Aren't you going to ask me what I am doing in your home?"

He _was_ a fairy! Even his voice was golden. His voice had made her whole body tremble to her very core. She knew she was supposed to talk, it was rude not to answer a direct question, but what could she say to a fairy?

"Can you _talk_?"

She barely nodded and he smirked before bringing the goblet to his lips and drinking the water in one single gulp. Then he stood up, making Clary feeling extremely and ridiculously minuscule and he closed the three steps distance that was separating them. She tilted her head up to still be able to look at him, and finally, she noticed something else than gold.

She saw how angular his face was and how perfect his features were. From the corner of her eye, she noticed that his cloths weren't rags but weren't refined either, they were just nice brand new cloths.

"I'll come back tomorrow."

And by saying these words, he touched her, removing a lock from her face to tuck it behind her ear. That simple gesture told that much to Clary: he wasn't a fairy. Fairies didn't touch normal people, everyone knew that. Fairies were supposed to be evanescent, a chimera that you'd always wonder if they were real or not.

Jace looked at the girl's green eyes, hesitating to lean down and kiss those tempting lips calling to him before he thought better of it and just walked away, feeling extremely frustrated with himself. Never before he had stopped himself from kissing a woman, if he wanted, he was just doing it, but this girl...

It had been a whole week that he had been watching her, ever since he lost himself in the darkest part of the forest. Sebastian had dared him to go to a certain point, the place where demons here suppose to meet up their master, but he never believed in those stupid old ladies tales. Demons didn't exist, just like fairies didn't exist.

Until he saw _her_, that little fairy healing a deer wounded leg. From afar he watched her pulling up the arrow and cleaning the wound, applying some cauterizing plants on it and giving water to the animal. She seemed so kind and so caring. And still he didn't walk to her. He just stayed afar, afraid that she'd runoff if she saw him. Fairies did often runoff in presence of humans, that's what old tales said.

And ever since then, he had managed to find an excuse from his royal duties to come to this little part of the forest where he could see the fairy make her little life, his favorite part being when she would bath. The nakedness wasn't even what he liked most, no what he liked most was to see how her hair would form a halo of fire around her and how she seemed in perfect harmony with the Nature.

And this morning, he had decided to be brave enough and to go to her place to talk to her. He had been craving to hear her voice, to hear what fairy melody sounded like, but she didn't speak to him, she treated him like everyone always treated him back at the palace, and it annoyed him. Fairies were supposed to be above that.

But then he touched her, and he knew that she was better than a fairy, she was real. The lock of hair had just been an excuse to see if she was fairy or not, fairies do not touch humans. And now he just couldn't wait for the next day to come for him to see her again and get to talk to her. Because even though she wasn't a fairy, she was one to him. She was the girl that made him believe in fairies. She was _his_ fairy.

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

**So yeah, a new story, again. I hope you'll like it.**

**Don't worry, I haven't dropped Shattered Hearts, and I'm rereading Another Chance? so yeah, just another story in the line. Tell me what you think of it already, what you expect next, who you think will come along in the story.**

**It will be a short story (20 chapters I think), and it's already all over in my head, let's just see where we go from here. And if anyone is interested in being a beta for this story, I'd be really grateful.**

**Anyway, Cassandra Clare owns the characters from the Mortal Instruments, everything else is mine.**

**Cheers**


	2. The End Or The Beginning?

Jace stared at the ceiling of his overlarge bedroom, trying to swallow back his frustration. He went back to the meadow where he assumed she lived, but she was never there. After returning for three days to the last place Jace had seen of the girl, the cabin remained empty. It was almost as if he had dreamt the very idea of her. Jace had nothing to make her appear real , nothing but the very memory of her delicate and soft skin. Everything else about her seemed to be a dream.

And that annoyed Jace more than he cared to admit. He wanted her to be real and not a stupid dream. Why wasn't she there? He did tell her that he would come back, so why didn't she wait for him there? Was she avoiding him? Who in their right mind would want to avoid _him_? Everyone wanted to be in his good favors, anyone would kill to have the attention that he was giving her. So why was she acting like that? It wasn't making any sense.

"Jace I'm not taking the king's wrath for you! Get up and go see him _now_!"

Jace glanced at Sebastian who was standing by the doorframe of his room, a small smirk on his lips before Jace cursed. He hated having to follow every single order his father would make, he hated all the responsibilities that slowly were falling on his shoulders and mostly, he hated the very idea that someday he would have to rule this kingdom. If he had a say in this matter, he would happily reject the 'offer'.

Jace got up and followed Sebastian to the Council Room where his father would stay locked hours a day, this very room that he hated so much because of what it represented, of how small and big in the mean time it was, of how he would have to stay there once his father would pass the reign on to him.

Jace didn't even bother in greeting his father, just barely nodded as Sebastian bowed with the deference required. Just another thing to hate. Would Sebastian act like that when he'd become king? Sebastian was his best friend, and Jace didn't want anything to change between them when he'd sit on the throne.

"I heard that you've been wandering in the woods lately."

Jace repressed himself from rolling his eyes. Of course his father would make someone follow him to report any of his activities outside the castle. It had been way too easy to make him allow Jace wander as he wanted in the kingdom.

Jace sat next to his father in that small replicate of the humongous throne in which King Stephan was sitting, his eyes steady on Sebastian who was still standing in the middle of the room. Sebastian barely shook his head, silently telling Jace that he wasn't the one who sold him out.

"So what? Are you going to tell me that I should be careful because it is full of gulls and demons?"

"No, but there is no point for you to go there. There is nothing to learn in that old decrypted forest. In town you can learn how your people think, what they need, how to keep your kingdom peaceful. What can you learn in a forest that would be useful to the kingdom?"

Jace bit the inside of his cheek, not wanting to dwell on the subject. He learned many things in that forest. He learned that a girl could heel a deer with a few sparse plants, that a girl knew which berries to eat or not, that a girl, _that_ girl, was a fairy. His fairy.

"Maybe, your Majesty, the fact that the Prince shows such an interest in a place so long forgotten is something good. He would know about this part of your kingdom better than anyone else. Let's not forget that this forest is the border with our foes."

Sebastian should inherited the kingdom instead of him; he knew better than anyone how to manipulate words and how to always be politically correct. He was actually the one who always helped Jace in the political sphere when he had to make decisions.

The King nodded to this statement and Jace said that he was going into town. Not that he wanted to, but he was just looking for an excuse to leave this too suffocating room. Once outside, Sebastian playfully bumped his shoulder against his, a smirk on his face and followed him outside the palace.

"So what really is in that forest that makes you all gloomy?"

"Nothing. There's nothing."

There was nothing, she wasn't there anymore. Maybe he scared her off. Or maybe he should try again the next day.

"Yeah right. Maybe the Wicked Witch of the Woods put a spell on you."

"The Wicked Witch of the Woods? Seriously Sebastian?"

Sebastian chuckled as they stepped outside the castle. They didn't bother trying to hide their identities because very few people actually knew their faces, and the ones who knew their faces didn't make a big deal out of it.

"Yeah, it's the latest rumor in town, some wicked witch haunting the forest, invoking demons,and scaring kids to deaths. Who knew the forest hid so many interesting secrets?"

Jace joined Sebastian in his laughter as they were walking on the paved road to town. They stayed silent for a moment, Jace completely lost in his thoughts of her. That girl that kept on nagging his thoughts. It wasn't normal that he was so obsessed by this girl; this never happened to him before. He never dwelled on any girl, just took them before moving onto someone else.

But _this_ girl kept on haunting him, which was stupid since he knew nothing about her. He didn't even know her name. All Jace knew was that she seemed like the sweetest and most caring person that he ever saw in his life.

"I saw someone in the forest."

"A girl?"

"I don't know. I _think_ so. Or maybe she was just a mirage..."

Sebastian glanced at Jace for a very brief moment before looking back in front of him. They were already in town, the buzzing noise of the market echoing everywhere as each merchant was shouting about the best aspects of their products.

"A mirage that made you go back to that forest everyday for the past couple of weeks?"

Jace shrugged and pretended to be over interested all of the sudden by the fruits on the stand in front of him. Sebastian didn't push it, just bumping friendly his shoulder once again and letting go of the subject as he understood that Jace didn't want to talk about it. They wandered a bit in the market, appreciating the possibility to mingle as simple people when suddenly, Jace saw a flash of red.

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

Clary quickly repositioned the hood of her cloak to cover herself from the upcoming rain as someone had just bumped into her and hadn't even bothered to apologize. This was what she was to them: invisible and transparent until the day something would go wrong in their lives. Then they would blame it all on her. She always dreaded going into town, but there were supplies that she needed and that she couldn't find anywhere else.

Usually she would trade her plants and specific mushrooms that would only grow in a dark part of the forest with one particular merchant, which would give her cloths and tools in exchange. They never really spoke, only trading without saying one single word to one another.

She left his shop with what she had came for, and held her basket tight in her hands before discreetly going back to the forest as the rain started to fall and the sun to set. It was better like that because if people saw her going in that direction, they would start shouting at her to go back to the darkness where she belonged, they would throw stones and rotten fruits at her.

Clary walked through the market, always trying to bring herself closer to the forest. And when she finally managed to get out of sight and to walk in the woods, someone grabbed her arm. She gasped in fear, already anticipating being the town freak that they always turned her into, but it was _him_. The not-fairy man. The _golden_ man. The man that shetried to avoid for the past three days.

And she was so conflicted to see him again. She had wanted to, all the while dreading it. She wanted to know him, to know why he came to her place and why he had wanted to come back, but ... He was a _person_. And people never did anything else but hurt her. How did she know he didn't want to do the same?

And moreover, she hated the fact that ever since she saw him, she started to gently speak out loud all her actions to herself training her voice to talk again. It was as if her body was acting on its own accord, already preparing itself for a reunion she wasn't ready for mentally.

And there he was now, staring at her with relief illuminating his golden eyes as the thick rain wetted his golden hair. His hand never left her arm, holding her a little too tight as if he didn't want to let her go. When she tried to remove herself from his grip, he raised his other hand to her face, gently caressing her cheek with his knuckles.

"You're real."

It's all he could manage to say. A stupid sentence stating the obvious truth that touching her was giving him: she _was_ real. Her green eyes sparkled with surprise and incomprehension, and when Jace moved a little bit closer, she looked down. But not before he could see her blush to the loveliest shade of red.

The rain was starting to fall harder on them, dark clouds making it seem that it was already late in the night and when a thunderstruck lightened the sky, she seemed to daze out of it, looking back at him before shoving herself violently out of his grip.

Jace could have kept her in his arms, he could have easily forced her to stay still, but he didn't want to. And so he let go of her, even though it annoyed him. But then, she looked around, and took his arm, leading him somewhere deeper in the woods. So he docilely followed, copying his pace to her rapid one, barely looking around to where she was leading him.

At first he thought that she would take him to her cabin to shelter them from the storm that was obviously coming if the many thunderstruck that were now dancing in the sky were any indication. But he didn't recognized the road to her place as the woods were getting darker and thicker.

At some point, she abruptly stopped and looked at a special tree before bending down and opening a hidden wooden door, revealing a large hole in the ground. Jace sheepishly looked at her as she expected him to go in.

"Do you expect me to go in that rabbit hole?"

She nodded and so he did as he was asked, darkly thinking that his father would lose it if he knew that Jace was hiding from a thunderstorm in a hole in the ground. She swiftly followed him and once they were both in, darkness overwhelmed them.

Jace felt suddenly uneasy in this total unknown ground, but before he knew it, a small and delicate hand was in his and led him through the darkness. Every once in a while, she would squeeze his hand a little, and after two roots hitting his head, Jace understood that it was just a warning for him to bend.

After five minutes of complete darkness, they arrived in what seemed to be to Jace a fairy lair. It was a cave underground completely enlightened by thousands of crystals. Where the light was coming from, he had no idea, but themystery of it only added to the beauty. It was breathtaking beautiful. He was so mesmerized by the view that he didn't even realized that she had let go of his hand.

He walked a little bit further into the cave, completely hypnotized. The cave was spacious and high, crystals incrusted everywhere in the stone, different colors illuminating the place. A small lake was there, its water having the color of a rainbow because of the crystals gleaming beneath it.

And finally Jace tore his gaze from this wonder to look at her, _his own wonder_, as she was removing her coat and shaking her long red hair. Her curls were bouncing around her head before she stopped,catching him staring at her, and once again she blushed, bringing again that adorable shade of red to her cheeks. **  
**

Her arms were bare, and the small sparkles of color coming from the crystals were making her so unreal that he quickly closed the distance between them to touch her again. Softly, gently, his fingers caressed the naked skin of her arms, and he felt her shiver before she looked back up to him. He locked her gaze to his, capturing her as much as he could through his eyes, and then, out of nowhere, a whisper escaped his lips.

"What's your name?"

"Clary."

_She spoke_! She spoke to him with that fairy voice of hers. A small murmur singing the melody of her name. Two syllables, nothing more. Nothing complicated or fancy like his way too long name. Just a simple name for thatcompletelywonderful girl. Even her name seemed out of this world.

"Jace."

It wasn't really his name, just how his close friends called him, and when he said close friends, he meant Sebastian, but he didn't want her to call him by his full name. Jonathan-Christopher was bringing all the weight of his royal responsibilities. So he preferred that she called him by this nickname that mattered to him because he wanted to matter to her.**  
**

She nodded and stepped back a little before looking in her basket. Then she removed two green apples and gave him one, her eyes steady on him. He took it, his own eyes ravaging her whole face, and she swiftly looked away before going to seat near by the lake. Jace followed her and sat inches next to her.

He wanted to talk to her, to know why she hadn't been at the cabin for the last few days, but there was something in the silence she was imposing upon him that prevented him from doing so. Jace settled in biting in his apple, watching her as she was eyeing the lake with a sort of longing, eating mindlessly her apple.

"Why did you bring me here?"

The sound of his voice sounded foreign, inappropriate, Jace caught himself wishing he hadn't spoken. She turned her head to him, her green eyes blinking a few times as if the question was completely stupid.

"The clouds were heavy, the storm will not spare anything on its way. And you wouldn't have made it back to town in time."

Jace nodded, returning in that silence she seemed to enjoy so much, but wishing he could make it less awkward to make her talk to him. And about something else than the weather would be great.

Clary repressed yet again another shudder and brought her knees to her chest to rest her chin on it. She was cold because of her wet dress and she was longing to go in the water that she knew warm. But his presence was preventing her from doing so.

How long had it been since she had to stay next to someone more than five minutes? So many years that she forgot to count. Ever since her Mom left to live in another kingdom. And now she was realizing that she had missed that warm contact. She needed to make efforts if she wanted to keep at least this sort of relationship with him ... _Jace_.

"Where do you live? I've never seen you in town before."

So she really didn't know who he was. Jace had a few doubts on this fact because of the way she acted the first time they met. There had been so much deference in her attitude toward him that he had thought for a second that she knew about his lineage.

"I'm like you. I don't really live in town. But my view is not as _extraordinary_ as yours."

She shook her head, her brows frowned and her eyes still steady on the water.

"My view has nothing extraordinary. It's just Nature, plain and simple. Nature is always beautiful when it hasn'tbeen spoiled by people."

He saw her repress a shiver and he wished that he could just wrap a coat around her to warm her up. Without realizing what he was doing, he demandingly took one of her hands in his and gave her a little of his body warmth. He felt her stiffen a little but she didn't do anything to remove herself from him.

"I know another way to warm you up if you want."

He winked and she blinked of incomprehension first. Then, when she seemed to understand what he was implying, she furiously blushed, quickly looking away and regaining possession of her hand. He chuckled a little and she abruptly got up before walking to the lake. She slowly stepped into the warm water, fully dressed and a small smile of satisfaction on her face. She turned to look at him with her emerald eyes and her small smile never leaving her face.

"You should come, the water is really good."

Clary looked at Jace joining her in the lake before she completely immersed herself under the water and swam away a little, relishing herself with the warmness of it. Once her lungs started missing air, she emerged, finding herself in the middle of the lake. She looked around for Jace, but he was nowhere to be seen. And suddenly, hands were on her arms, bringing her closer to a strong and muscular chest.

She turned to face him and lost herself in the gold off his eyes. She still couldn't believe that they were _golden_. Never yet she had seen someone with golden eyes. She felt her heart rate accelerate and she tried to steady it, swallowing hardly as he removed a lock from her face to tuck it behind her ear.

He wanted so desperately to lean forward and kiss her, but it just felt wrong. She wasn't like one of those girls back at the palace, she was so much more, even though he knew nothing of her except her name. She seemed so innocent at this right moment that he wanted to always keep her like that.

He gently wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled his nose in the crook of her neck. She stiffened, but didn't do anything to make him stop, so he stayed there, feeling completely estranged with himself. He never had been the caring or cuddling type with women, he never hesitated with any of them because he was very well aware of his appeal. But with her, with _Clary_, it was a complete different story.

He actually wanted to ... care about her. He wanted her to be something more than yet another faceless woman. It was scary and yet he was looking forward to it, as if he needed it to keep on living.

"You weren't there when I told you I'd come back for you."

She didn't reply, just staying(stayed) still in his arms, the warm water surrounding them and her eyes closing on their own accord as her body electrified at the feeling of his hot breath on her skin. How could someone she had never known move her like that in her very core. His breath was like a sweet and burning fire running through her very sensitive skin.

"I was there, you just didn't see me."

She saw him coming everyday for the past three days staying hours in front of her cabin while she was hiding in the high branches of a sequoia tree. The truth was that she was afraid, she was afraid that he would turn out to be just a prankster finding another way to make fun of her.

But another part of her was telling her that he wasn't and that she should just go talked to him. The very same part that kept on losing during those past three days, but also the very same part that made her move her arms up to gently wrap them around his neck. She heard him release a relieved breath as he held her tighter, and she allowed herself to like it, and to even more, _enjoy_ it.

After moments that seemed hours to them, they finally let go of each other to go back to the bank. Once on the ground again, Clary bit her lip realizing that she had nothing to wear and that she couldn't stay in a wet dress. She glanced at Jace and furiously blushed when she saw that he was taking his top off. And still, she couldn't bring herself to look away.

When he caught her staring all flustered, Jace played with the hem of his trousers just to make her blush a little more. Which she did, quickly turning her head to look away before she bent down to her basket, taking a cloth out. She wrapped herself around it and after she wiggled a bit Jace saw that she had removed her dress.

Seeing her like that with that simple piece of cloth wrapped around her aroused Jace more than he ever thought it could. Knowing that nothing was beneath the large sheet made him want to pull it off and discover her whole body with his mouth. He breathed in deeply and looked at something less appealing than Clary being almost naked inches away from him.

How long had it been since he had to control himself around a woman? _Never_! He always had the opportunity to release his urges, but now he was the one imposing himself abstinence when he could have just try to charm his way into her.

Suddenly, he felt her small and delicate hand on his shoulder, and he looked down to see her giving him another piece of cloth. He took it, only realizing now how small she was. She was so small that she could easily walk under his arms if he put them horizontally to the floor.

Jace quickly wrapped himself in the dry cloth before walking back next to her and taking her in his arms from behind. Why was it that he couldn't keep his hands off of her for more than ten seconds? It was a total mystery to him, but he didn't mind at all.**  
**

"You think the storm is going to last to the night?"

She nodded and he smiled at that. He was going to stay with her for the night. He made them sit, settling her between his legs in such a way that her head would rest on his chest, but she'd still be able to look at him in the eyes.

"Clary ... Tell me more about you please."

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

**So yeah, a new chapter. I hope you liked it. I know I made you wait a little for this one but promise I won't for the next one. I hope you're liking where I'm going with that. **

**Please do tell me what you think of Clary and Jace. And of their lives and all. I wasn't expecting so many reviews for the first chapter, but they made me smile and gave me the confidence to keep on going with this story. **

**To tell you the truth, this is a story I used to tell to my sisters when they were younger and fed up with all the bedtime stories that we had. So yeah, I just changed the characters looks, but everything else is mine, and it is very weird to tale this story to someone else than my sisters, so yeah, don't make me feel more awkward? (I'm not saying don't review, I'll never censure you, but yeah, now you know where the story come from)**

**Anyway, someone asked me the age of Jace and Clary by PM, and they are in their teen years in another dimension, so yeah, they're considered as adults. Let's just say that he is 19 and she is 17. **

**I'm sorry for the person who asked for it to be longer, but seriously, the story is already finished so 20 is a lucky guess. Maybe it will be more, maybe it will be less, but what I know for sure is that there won't be any epilogue or sequel. Like I said this story exists since more than ten years (geez I feel old talking about decades) so no, I won't change it in any way. Sorry. **

**Anyway, dont forget to tell me what you thought. It made me so happy to see all your lovely reviews. You guys made me blush of delight**

**Anyway, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise, and thank you for my beta, ****The EternalDaylightingRanger for correcting my mistakes and making the story more fluent for you guys. **

**Cheers. **


	3. Getting To Know Her

They talked all night long, up until dawn, or Jace supposed so. He listened to Clary talking about her simple life, surprised for a brief moment when it became obvious that she had been living alone for quite a long time. When came the question of her family, she had stiffened and swiftly changed the subject. And even though Jace had wanted to ask more about it, he didn't because he didn't want her to ask about his own parents.

Clary told him that she wasn't a people person and that she didn't like going to town because she didn't really get along with the villagers. She kept to herself the little names they were calling her with because she didn't want his pity, and she certainly didn't want him to flip if he had already heard rumors about the Wicked Witch of the Woods. Because as strange as it sounded to her, she wanted to get to know Jace better, she wanted to spend time with him more often and scaring him off wouldn't be a good start.

It turned out that Jace was a great listener, and that, even though he couldn't stop touching her hair and sometimes her face, he paid attention to everything she told him, giving her the confidence to keep on talking about what really mattered to her, what moved her in this world.

Jace on the other hand didn't talk much about himself. There wasn't much anything to say, especially if he compared his life to Clary's. From what she had told him, he gathered that she was selfless. She was the kind of person who would put the other before herself, even though she didn't know them. He was ... the Prince. And that was it. Besides that, he never did anything for anyone.

She told him that every full moon she silently went to the wheel to put some special plants in them because otherwise the water would start to spoil. But that no one knew. Like no one knew that the plants she traded were extremely dangerous to get, but she still did it because they were used as powerful remedies.

Still he told Clary that he lived at the palace. Nothing about his lineage, but he told her about his residence because he didn't like the idea of lying to her. And what if someone from town told her that they'd seen him going to the palace? No, it was better to tell her at least that. Contrarily at what he expected, her eyes lit up with wonder and longing at that information.

"The view must be _magnificent_ in the palace."

"Not really."

He thought that the view _she_ had each morning was way more impressive that the one he had. The town, the forest, or the mountains. That was the 'palpitant and amazing' view that he had when Clary had wonders and wonders for miles and miles.

"But if you get on the roofs, you must be able to see the stars from up close. To be the first one to really appreciate a sunset or a sunrise. I'm sure that if you stand high on the tower roof, you can believe that you're flying."

Her voice had been completely exited at the idea, and Jace promised himself to get her on those roofs one day just to see her eyes sparkle with wonder. But now that he could feel her slowly going into slumber, he traced the skin of her bare arm, not the slightest tired.

"Clary?"

"Mmmh?"

"Speaking of palaces, what do you think of royalties?"

Clary opened back her eyes, scanning through his face as if she was fearing something behind his question. He kept on looking at her expectantly, ignoring the lump forming on his throat. His question seemed to have upset her for some reason, and jace felt that if she ever answered, he wouldn't like it.**  
**

She moved a little and placed herself on her back, one of her hands tracing a scar that he hadn't noticed before on her right shoulder. He couldn't really figure out what caused it was nor its form because she was hiding it with her fingers. After a few moments of silence she talked, but it seemed to Jace that she was talking to the crystals on the ceiling more than to him, completely lost in her thoughts.

"I think royalty is pretty stupid.

Kings fight for a bit of land that they'll never actually set foot on and they don't really know what their people want or need. When you think that peace and harmony could be brought by simply talking and placing oneself in the other's position, it makes it sad. They should take example on Idris and let the people rule their own country.

Instead they keep on fighting, sending innocent people to do their stupid wars and die for a faceless king. I don't even know what King Stephan looks like, and even less what his son looks like. They stay up high in their castle and rule a kingdom they don't even know fighting to be wealthier, when their people die of hunger. And in the end, families get estranged because they live in different kingdoms."

Jace didn't answer anything to that. Mostly because it was the first time he ever heard someone talking like that. He also didn't know what to say to her. He couldn't really tell her anything because he didn't have any idea on the question. He didn't want to be Prince, but he never took any interest in politics to have a real deep conversation about it.

All he knew was that he didn't want the responsibilities. But what those responsibilities actually were, he had no idea. He knew _nothing_ about politics. He barely knew the names of the neighboring Kings and he never heard of a place called Idris. He really should have paid more attention in classes like Sebastian.

And Clary, little peasant Clary living secluded in the middle of the forest, seemed to know a thousand things more than _him_, the future King. Jace was so lost in his thoughts that she surprised him when she snuggled on his naked chest, already sleeping. He smiled before gently wrapping his arm around her and holding her a little tighter to join her into slumber.

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

"I'll be back tomorrow."

They had left the cave and now Clary was guiding him through the forest back to the palace. She said she knew a shortcut, and Jace believed her, it seemed that she made the forest for she knew it so well. This time she wasn't holding his hand though, the sun being bright enough to pierce through the thick trees.

Clary stopped at his words and turned to look at Jace. She wanted him to come back, but in the mean time, she didn't. She was used to her life the way it was, and as much as she appreciated Jace's presence, she didn't want to fall into that routine of him coming everyday to see her. She had a life to keep on going, a life that didn't include him.

"I won't be here."

"Why?"

"Because I have things to do."

"Like what?"

"It is none of _your_ concern. I don't really know you, you don't really know me, I don't owe you any explanations on my whereabouts."

Jace frowned at that and was about to say something when she removed a branch and revealed the palace in front of them. He quickly glanced at his golden prison before looking back at her, not liking how swiftly she was dismissing him. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. She was suppose to beg him to come back instead of showing him his way home.

"You should be careful. The roads are a bit slippery."

And without him realizing how, she had disappeared, after having gently pressed his arm. _What was that_? Who disappeared like that? He passed a tired hand over his face before regaining the main road to the castle. He didn't use the principal entry to go in the palace and snuck in through one of the hidden passages he used so many times with Sebastian.

Once he got back in his room, taking many detours to be sure not to run into anyone Jace almost had a heart attack. Sebastian was creepily sitting on his bed, obviously waiting for him.

"The King is going to _kill you_."

"Whatever. I'm not dead, am I?"

Sebastian chuckled and leaned against the headrest, crossing comfortably his legs and eyeing Jace. His eyes traveled all over Jace's body before stopping on his face and on the small grin illuminating him, smirking at it.

"So did you see your mirage? Lucky you for that storm."

"You didn't tell him, right?"

"Are you crazy? You want me to tell the King that I left his sole heir wandering alone in the woods in the arms of a temptress no one knows nothing about? Do you think I'm stupid or something? No, you're officially sleeping because we had to take shelter in a villager's house when the storm caught us by surprise."

Jace nodded, grateful to Sebastian for covering up for him, and he sat on the bed next to him, feeling exhaustion rushing over him. Sebastian was right, his father would lose it if he knew where he had really been this night.

"So? How real was your mirage?"

"She's ... _weird_. Not like us. She's ..."

He couldn't define Clary. Not with words. She was beyond words, even though the fact that she blew him off upset him to the highest level.

"Different? Careful Jace. The King won't mind you going around, but he won't let you fall in love. You know that. Especially to someone who's not royalty. Especially to someone that you met in _those_ woods."

"In love? Sebastian, give me some credit."**  
**

Sebastian gave him an appointed look, and both of them knew that it was pointless to argue. The fact that Jace was over obsessing about Clary was proof enough that he should do what she said, stop going to see her.

"What's she like? Physically?"

"Small. _Really small_. And she has red hair, red like the sunset. And her eyes are green like emeralds, shining of wisdom, but they are still innocent and kind. And her skin, _her skin_, is so soft, softer that silk and paler than the bright full moon."

While he talked, Jace realized how deep in trouble he was. Not that he loved her, but he cared about her enough to put both of them in a very dangerous situation.**  
**

"Why didn't you bring her to the palace? You could have made her into your maid and then the problem would have been solved."

"I won't bring her here. She's too innocent to survive in a palace. Besides, she doesn't know who I am, and I'm not planning on telling her."

"That's a _healthy_ way to start a relationship Jace. Lies always backfire."

"I'm not lying. She didn't ask, I didn't say, that's it."

Sebastian sighed, and Jace knew that he was about to be lectured. The thing was, Clary seemed to like him just fine as a simple person who happened to live at the palace, but she seemed to clearly despise anything related to royalty. And he didn't want to give her more reasons to take her distances more than she already was. So he changed the subject with something he knew Sebastian would help him about.

"Have you ever heard of Idris?"

"Of course. You did too, but you weren't paying attention.

Idris used to be a kingdom. A _very_ wealthy kingdom that could have overpowered all the other kingdoms in the blink of an eye. And this kingdom had a very wise King completely loved by his people. Idris was the kingdom all other kingdoms envied because of the peace and harmony in it. The King knew personally the baker and the nurse, the maid and the water-boy, the farmer and the merchant. He cared about every one of his subjects, treating them as friends and equals and not as subjects.

Now officially, the story Kings give to their own people is that one day, twelve years ago, the King of Idris became mad and flee his country, leaving it on its own. Now everyone who comes from Idris is considered as a pariah and is arrested for crime against the crown."

Jace nodded, vaguely remembering a story about a mad King from his young years. But still, something Sebastian said didn't add up with what Clary had said. She said Idrisians were in charge of themselves.

"The story Kings give to their people?"

"Well what I heard from a wanderer is that the King loved his people so much that he did what no other King would ever _think_ of doing: he gave them back their country. He did leave the country, but before doing so, he established a system where the people would chose a representer for a period of time, they would chose their own laws, they would have their own money, their taxes would be to improve their own lives and not the wealth of the royal family.

And _that's_ why our Kings tell us that he was mad and that no Idrisian is allowed anywhere, because otherwise people would know that it is possible to live without a King and that it would actually be better."

Jace nodded once again, wondering how he could have not pay attention to that. Mad Kings and conspiracies was all he cared for in politics, it entertained him to see how the madness of one King could mean the wealth of another one.

"Please, tell me she's not Idrisian. King Stephan would have both your heads."

"Don't be ridiculous! Why would an Idrisian leave this dream country they have?"

Sebastian agreed to that and stood up with a grunt.

"Anyways. I give you one hour of rest before we go prove the King that you're alive and that I didn't murder you for the crown or something."

Jace rolled his eyes and placed himself on the bed a little more comfortably before slipping in a peaceful and dreamless sleep.

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

"I want to go to the Lightwood kingdom."

King Stephan dropped his fork of shock and Sebastian gave him a warning look.

The Lightwood kingdom was the kingdom with whom they shared the woods, each King claiming it as his own. They have been in war since as long as people could remember. The Lightwoods were the family King Stephan feared the most because they were the only ones who could defeat him if they ever took their feud to battle. And if the Lightwoods swallowed Alicante, then they would be the most powerful kingdom of them all.

Jace looked straight in his father's eyes as King Stephan was staring at him as if it was the first time he was seeing him. Jace knew that his request came out of nowhere, but the conversation he had with Clary had made him think. No one really knew what started the feud between those two kingdoms, and if it could be reasoned and stopped without spilling blood, it was of his _duty_ to do so. So he explained more clearly his thoughts to his father.

"As a peace emissary."

"Since when are you so interested in politics?"

"Since I realized that you're not going to last forever."

Jace noticed the way Sebastian bit his lips in order to contain his smirk. It wasn't new for Jace to talk like that to his father, he always did. Mostly to show him how much he despised the idea of reining, but also because he always wanted to know where was King Stephan's limit. And he still hadn't found it.

"As glad as I am that you finally come to your senses, the Lightwoods are not people you can reason with. Going there would be a waste of time and extremely dangerous."

"I don't think it would. If I go as a peace emissary, they cannot touch me remember?"

"That is if they have honor."

Jace restrained himself from grunting of frustration and glanced at Sebastian for a little support. Sebastian looked at him with a small frown knotting his brows, before turning his head deferentially to the King and breathing in deeply.

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

"This is so stupid."

Clary was at the border of the forest staring at the palace. All she had to do was walk a little and ask for Jace at the first person she would meet. It wasn't that complicated, so why couldn't she manage to step forward?

It had been a week since she last saw Jace. And now she was starting to feel guilty for telling him not to come back straight away. Maybe she vexed him. But if it was so, he was acting really childishly, like a spoiled brat to whom no one can ever say no. So maybe she shouldn't be the one stepping forward to him.

Clary breathed in deeply and sat on her heels taking her head between her hands. Having contacts with people was so confusing. There was so much to take in consideration. If she was listening to her reason, she would go back to her cabin and just forget about Jace. But Clary's instincts where telling her otherwise, that she should at least tell him that she was going away for a while.

She abruptly got up and decided to follow her instincts for they haven't betrayed her so far when it came to Jace. Clary started walking to the palace when she stopped on her tracks. The castle was a lot more imposing from up close, it was even a little bit frightening. Suddenly, Clary wasn't so eager to go inside anymore, even if it was to see Jace, and so she headed back to the forest, trying not to be overwhelmed by her emotions.

"Hey! ... _You_!"

Clary literally froze when a hand rested on her shoulder, her eyes wide open with fear. She knew it wasn't Jace, Jace's hands were strong, callous and warm. Even though this hand was also strong and callous, it was cold. Slowly she turned on herself -fearing that it was a suspicious guard who would accuse her on putting spells on the royal family- and she faced a black haired man with a friendly smile on his face.

He was everything Jace wasn't. His hair were black, as black as his eyes and his skin was pale, as white as the snow. He looked at her with curiosity and amusement before fondly smiling to her.

"I see what he means by mirage now."

Clary opened big goggling eyes before stepping back a little and retaking possession of her shoulder. The man smiled to her as she tried to figure where she could have seen him before. But his face was completely estranged to her.

"He didn't tell you about me, did he? Well, I wouldn't have lost time talking about him either if I had the chance to meet something marvelous like yourself."

Clary blinked a little making the man chuckle and she stepped back a little more. His black eyes lingered on her movement before he presented her his hand and bowed a little.

"Where are my manners? I am Sebastian, Jace's best friend."

She briefly nodded, relaxing a little at the fact that Jace knew this man. Maybe it was her lucky day after all.

"Are you here to see him? Because that would make him very happy."

"No. Can you just tell him that I'm going away for a while? Thank you."

And before Sebastian could say or do anything, she ran back into the forest, completely scared of how real that situation she had with Jace had become. When it was just the two of them, Clary could just pretend that it was all in her mind, but now that a third person was brought in the equation, she had no choice but to admit that it was real.

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

**So here was a new chapter, I hope you liked it, don't forget to tell, and I'm off because sleep is desperately calling me. **

**Just, I know that Jace appears a lot like a stalker, but that's how he's been raised, like a Prince who always gets what he wants, so he does what he wants. But bare with me, and you'll see how this goes.**

**Anyway, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise, and thank you for my beta, The EternalDaylightingRanger for correcting my mistakes and making the story more fluent for you guys.**

**Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang**


	4. Moonlight Talk

"I don't think we should arrive so ceremoniously."

Jace tore his gaze from the window of the royal carriage to look at Sebastian who was sitting in front of him. By some miracle, Sebastian had convinced King Stephan that it was a good idea for them to go to the Lightwood kingdom in order for them to find peace between the two countries. It took them a full week to get ready and have a list of topics Jace could or couldn't broach.

Now they were officially going to their neighbors, with a small escort of a hundred men. Jace's stomach churned in out, the uncomfortable and ever-present feeling just reminding him of the task ahead. This was the first time he would committed himself politically as the Prince. He knew that Sebastian would help him make the right decisions and choose the right words, but it was still nerve breaking.

"How do you want us to arrive? As peasants?"**  
**

"Maybe. If you want to know well a person, you should first look how that person treats his inferiors."

"Well it's too late to do that. In case you haven't noticed, we have a hundred men on our tail."

"Exactly. They're expecting us. We should ditch the cortège and go there ahead. Just to have a quick look around. That should give us two days or so to get to see how the Lightwoods treat their people."

Jace thought about it for a moment, evaluating the soldiers loyalty toward his father. If he came to disappear for two days, who among them would report that to the King? A few too many if you ask him.

"They will talk."

"Then make them not to. You're the future King, you're on your way to represent your kingdom, it's time you start acting like it."

"Then don't talk to me like that."

It's not that he wanted to snap at Sebastian, but Jace didn't want to hear the truth of Sebastian's words. The fact that Sebastian always treated him as a friend was something that Jace liked and he wasn't ready to give that up. Not for a crown, not for a country, not for anything.

"I'll talk to you with deference the day you will stop acting as a rebellious and misunderstood urchin."

Jace stubbornly reported his attention to the road through the window, refusing to admit out loud that Sebastian was right. Jace knew that it was more than time for him to accept his legacy and to act like the King he was meant to become. But that meant accepting to have thousands of lives depending on him and on every decisions he would make.

Jace looked at the sparse trees defiling in front of him, his mind wandering somehow to what Clary had told him: Kings barely knew their people. He didn't know his own people. The fact that he went to town from time to time meant nothing, the town was berths palace and therefore prosperous. Jace never went to the small villages of his kingdom, he knew nothing of misery, only what he read in some books.

He promised himself to learn more about his own people as soon as they would come back in Alicante, but first, he needed to see if he could blend in easily, and Sebastian's idea was perfect in that sense too.

"Stop the carriage."

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

Clary walked out of the merchant shop where she just traded some poisonous vines for a long knife and a new axe. The blacksmiths from this kingdom were far more superior from the ones of Alicante. As she admired the fine blade of the knife, she remembered that one time when she had expressed to her father that she wanted to become a blacksmith.

The battle between metal and burning fire had fascinated Clary and she used to sneak out in the middle of the night just to marvel at the forceful blacksmiths forging so many things out of scraps of metal. She used to do it every nights for months until her father caught her and so brought her to the blacksmith shop.

Clary remembered clearly the deception that she had felt when she hadn't been able to lift the hammer or to even activate the bellows due to her petite height. Her father had gently laughed at her, telling her to wait and grow up, and that maybe later she would become the first woman blacksmith of the country. But then came the illness, and Clary forgot all about her childhood dreams.

Mindlessly, Clary directed herself toward the eating-house, her stomach already grumbling at the thought of their specialty: stew of grilled vegetables. Every time she came to the Lightwood kingdom, she would stop to this place just to eat there.

She actually liked the Lightwood kingdom, more than the Herondale's one, but it was further. She had to walk for a day and a half at a good pace to reach it. And it was also full of painful memories. The man who stole her mother away came from this kingdom, even though none of them lived there anymore.**  
**

It had been years since Clary had seen her Mom and months since she had any sort of news from her. Clary knew that her Mom had managed to make a new life for herself, finding a new form of happiness in the arms of that other man, and that was the thing. Clary couldn't understand how her Mom had managed to move on from her Dad. She hadn't.**  
**

When she entered Taki's, she went to sit at a table on the corner, not wanting to draw attention to her. People here were nicer toward her because no one ever called her witch, but they were still wary of her because of who she was to begin with. The owner glanced at Clary before nodding to her and saying that she would bring Clary her usual.

Clary waited as the fat woman disappeared in the kitchens and contemplated the idea of spending the night there. It was starting to get late and if the clouds were any indications, it would rain during the night, something that Clary desperately wanted to avoid. The route in the forest could be really dangerous at night when it was raining. But in the mean time, she was sure that all the rooms were already taken.

Suddenly, two people sat at her table, startling her out of her thoughts, and she shockingly recognized Jace and Sebastian settling in front of her. Clary opened big goggling eyes as Jace looked at her up and down, not believing his eyes. Sebastian had told him that she came by the palace to say that she would be away, but Jace never expected her to go where he would.

He cursed at Sebastian's presence as he noticed Clary stiffen a bit. It was as if they were back in the cabin when they first saw each other, and that the magical night they had spent together in the cave never existed. She was back on looking at him with an imaginary distance between them, and Jace wondered for a second if she was even going to talk when she surprised him.

"What are you doing here?"

"I should ask you the same. Don't you need special permission to cross the borders?"

"You know where I live. Do you think they put guards on their precious borders there?"

Jace mentally scolded himself;what she said was obvious. She lived in the forest, so of course she didn't bend to the rules of frontiers. She probably even travelled in other kingdoms without any guards having the knowledge of it.

Jace suddenly felt a sort of inferiority toward Clary. The fact that she could freely go wherever she wanted without being accountable to anyone made him feel somehow envious of her.

"So you refused to see me just to come here?"

Clary looked at Jace, planting her eyes deep into his golden orbs. She didn't like the tone he was using, as if she owed him any sorts of explanations on her whereabouts, so she decided to ignore him. She had managed to live all those years without him in her life before, she could still do as if he didn't exist - even though he was sitting just in front of her.

"Good evening Sebastian."

Jace opened his mouth hanging as she deliberately ignored him. He glanced at Sebastian, hoping for some support, but Jace saw that the traitor was doing his best to hide his smirk.

"I was talking to you."

"And I ignored you because you are acting like a brat."

At that, Sebastian couldn't hold it anymore and bursted into laughter, not even stopping when Jace glared at him.

"_What_? It's true!" Then he turned to Clary, an idea gleaming in his eyes as his face be me serious again. "So do you come here often?"

Clary nodded as the owner set down her plate in front of her. Then the fat lady turned to the boys, her eyes narrowed of suspicion and mistrust, and she asked them what they wanted. They asked for the same thing as Clary, and the woman left for the kitchens.

Clary buried her gaze in her plate of vegetables, using the opportunity to escape the men's gaze, and Jace was about to say something when Sebastian stopped him, shaking his head. Sebastian mouthed Jace to let him talk and then returned his attention to Clary.

"Maybe you could give us a tour of the town tomorrow? It's our first time here."

"I'm leaving tonight."

Clary hadn't even look up from her plate, all too aware of Jace's eyes on her, and she blamed the circumstances when a thunderstruck echoed outside, quickly followed by a heavy rain. Jace looked at her closing her eyes of irritation, making him smirk. There was no way she would leave now when a flood was outside.

"You were saying?"

Clary kept her eyes steady on her plate, considering all her possibilities. She could still leave, but that meant risking being lost in the woods, or breaking her leg. And she would be lying to herself if she'd say that she didn't want to spend some time with Jace.

Because no matter how arrogant and bratty he was being at this very moment, Jace was still that person who gave her back the warmth of human contact. He was that person who listened to her during a whole night, without ever judging her for her unique way to live or to see the world. And above all, he was that person who reminded her of her father in a certain way. The way he would attentively listen, the way his eyes told more than he would say, the way his hands held her as if she was some fragile and precious treasure.

When Clary refocused her attention on what was happening at the present moment, Sebastian and Jace had their plates in front of them and were eating their food. Clary looked at her almost untouched stew before mumbling in an almost inaudible voice:

"I'll come to pick you up at dawn."

"Aren't you going to sleep here?"

Jace saw her frown her brows as if she just remembered that little inconvenience, and then she shook her head no. That made Jace also frown because from what he gathered, this was the only inn for miles. **  
**

"Where are you going to sleep then?"

"In the stables maybe."

"Like that's going to happen."

Clary didn't feel like answering to him. She knew that the rooms were all full, and anyway, she liked the smell of straw. Sebastian got up, catching her eyes before they fell back on Jace, and then she realized that they were alone at the table. She uncomfortably quibbled on her seat before getting up to escape his gaze, but Jace quickly did the same.

"Where are you going?"

"I thought we established that where I would go was none of your business."

"Except when there is a storm outside and I can give you a real bed."

Jace didn't let her time to argue or even assimilate what he just said, and he grabbed her arm to take her upstairs. Unlike what he expected, she didn't struggle and docilely followed him to the room he rented earlier.

Once in the room, he locked the door behind him and turned to look at her, _his fairy, _watching him with those big green eyes of hers. He made a step closer to her and she narrowed her eyes, even though she did not move from her spot.

"What are you doing here?"

Jace swallowed hard, freezing in his movements and he followed her gaze. She was critically eying the room, seeing things that he couldn't see. The room was normal, even though a little bit small for Jace. There was double bed, and a desk, nothing more. Clary's eyes lingered on the second door, the one which led to the bathroom, before going back on Jace, expecting an answer.

"I came here to negotiate a few things with family acquaintances."

"You don't look like a merchant."

"I never said I was."

Clary was about to ask more when she restrained herself. Jace was obviously not eager to talk about this part of his life, and she wasn't going to push him if he didn't want to. So she simply nodded before walking to the door.

She had agreed to follow him in his room just because she was curious to see the kind of room he could have gotten when the hotel was completely full. And the sight of the room confirmed her suspicions, Jace was some spoiled rich brat. There were no other explanations on how he could have gotten the priciest room otherwise.

"Where are you going?"

"I already told you, I'll sleep in the stables."

"They're already occupied."

She rolled her eyes to him, and turned to grab the handle. But at the last second, Jace caged her against the door and Clary gasped of surprise, still facing the door. Jace slowly leaned to gently whisper in her ear:

"What are you afraid of Clary? It's not like we never spent the night together."

Clary closed her eyes, letting Jace's voice and breath lull her. If she was being honest with herself, she liked the feelings that he was arising in her. It was nice and warm and completely new. Like the feelings of his hands on her stomach, like the feeling of his breath becoming more and more hot on her neck, like the feeling of his lips on her neck.

That's when she snapped her eyes open and came back to reality, elbowing Jace in the stomach and jumping out of his grasp. It's not that she didn't like what he had been doing to her, it's just that what she felt was so unexpected. Clary looked at Jace, her eyes wide opened with shock as he was holding his stomach and grunting.

"I better go!"

"No! Clary, wait! I'm sorry. Stay. Please."

Clary didn't move a muscle, and Jace used the opportunity to prove his good faith by going to sit on the edge of the bed. He anxiously watched Clary as he just gave her the reins on what could happen next. She slowly walked to the bed, and sat next to him, making him sigh before slumping on the bed, his eyes closed.

Clary bit her lips as she watched Jace relaxing on the bed. She wished that he had kept his eyes open, but in the same time, she could finally look at him fully without having to bare his burning gaze on her. And she loved what she was seeing. His perfect features, the determined frown on his brows, the way his Adam's apple was popping out. Without being able to stop herself, her hand flew to caress his blond silky hair in a gentle stroke.

"Do you come here often?"

"Every two months or so."

Jace nodded, not daring pushing his luck by asking why. For all he knew, she could trade in this kingdom too. He let himself fall in the comfort that her fingers were bringing him to, afraid to open his eyes and break this small moment that they were having.

"Did you think about me over the past week?"

"I did. Why else would I have gone through the trouble to go to the palace?"

"I thought about you a lot. About how you are so aware of the world when I am not."

"Maybe because you weren't raised to be..."

Jace frowned and opened his eyes only to see Clary looking deep into space. This was the irony. _He_ was the Prince, _he_ was the one who was supposed to be conscious of the politics between the different kingdoms.

"You're really different from the girls that surround me. They don't think like you. Actually, they don't think at all."

"It's not my fault if you enclosed yourself with stupid girls."

Jace chuckled and closed back his eyes as Clary kept on mindlessly caressing his hair. They stayed silence for a moment, Jace starting to fall asleep under Clary's fingers, when she asked something he wasn't prepared for.

"How is it to live in the palace?"

"Not that interesting. Living in the palace is living even more under the King's yoke."

"But that's your decision to make. If you want your life to be interesting, _you_ have to make it interesting. No matter the rules and the laws, you're the one who sets your own path, who has the reins of your own life."

"It's easy for you to say, you live on your own, not really caring of kings, rules, responsibilities."

Clary stopped waving Jace's hair, making him snap his eyes open to look at her. He feared that he had overstepped the line, or said too much about his implications in the castle, but she only seemed lost in her thoughts. Jace upped himself on his elbows as a frown formed on her face and he gently took her hand in his.

"Clary?"

"I don't agree with you. It still remains _your_ life. _You're_ in charge of it. You're just looking for excuses to avoid taking your life in your hands."

Jace sat up straight and linked his fingers in front of him before resting his forehead on them. It was painful to admit, but Clary was right. All his life he had always put the blame on someone else for everything that went wrong in his life. And still he never tried to do something for himself, far too happy to reproach his misfortune to others.

Slowly, he felt Clary's hand rub his shoulders comfortably as if she was feeling bad for what she just said, but he didn't try look up, keeping his gaze on the wooden floor.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. What do I know about the high life you must have?"

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

**Sorry for the wait, but as it used to be an oral story that I used to tale when I was very young, so it is quite difficult to put it on the paper. I hope you're still liking the story, please do tell me. **

**Anyway, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise, and thank you for my beta, The EternalDaylightingRanger for correcting my mistakes and making the story more fluent for you guys.**

**Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang**


	5. The Lightwood Kingdom

Clary woke up before the sun and she stared at the ceiling, listening to Jace's soft and calm breathing. This night again, like before, she fell asleep at the sound of Jace's voice as he told her about his family. Still, she couldn't help but feel that he was holding something from her, but then again, so was she.

She had listened to Jace talking about the absence of his mother, how seeing her on a bed days after days irritated and frustrated him. How seeing his father so thoughtless toward his sick and sleeping wife annoyed him. He told her about Sebastian and about how he was the only person that Jace really trusted.

Quietly, Clary got up and crept out of the room in silence before walking to the forest, avoiding the best she could the puddlescreated by the rain during the night. She didn't go deep into the woods, and just stopped at the border before climbing a particular old tree to pick the blue flowers that were blooming on it. She had to be careful while taking them, using very cautiously her knife, because depending on how they were plucked, the flowers could be lethal.

As she was cautiously picking the flowers, she thought back on the day she learned about the double virtues of this flower. On how an old nurse taught her all she knew about this plant. She was barely six at the time, and still, this knowledge had fascinated her. The fact that such a beautiful flower could bring life and death, the fact that such a little thing could have such powers, this was something that had made little Clary swear to herself to learn more about the utilities of plants.

Little by little, Clary filled a small satchel with the blue flowers, still a little wet from both the rain of the night and the dew of the morning. Once she considered there were enough petals for five to six infusions, she looked at the arising sun, admiring the beauty of Nature as it awoke. The morning birds were starting to fly out of their nests as some flowers were blooming to the welcoming sun.

As she was appreciating the rising noise of the forest, Clary closed her eyes thinking back on her night with Jace. Particularly the moment when it became obvious that he was desperately longing for some human contact from his mother. He just wanted to feel loved by his mother, and Clary couldn't help but feel ashamed.

She had a mother who was alive and who didn't ask anything more than to love her, but Clary ignored her and pushed her away. And now, even though she was happily living with her new husband, her mother must feel sad to have her two children living far away from her. Clary breathed in heavily and promised herself to go and visit her mother before the first snows.

Slowly, she climbed down the trunk, and when she reached the ground, Clary found herself facing Sebastian. He was smirking at her, looking alternatively from the leaves to Clary. Then his eyes landed on the basket posed at the root of the tree and where Clary's belongings were.

"Leaving, are we?"

Clary nodded and closed her satchel firmly before walking to Sebastian and placing the little bag in his hands.

"Can you give this to Jace, please? Tell him to let them infuse during the night of the full moon before administrating it. It's how it's best going to work. Once a week, never more."

"Jace won't be happy to know you left like a thief in the night."

"Jace isn't expecting to see me when he'll wake up. He knows me."

"_Does he_? Because no matter how much he talks about you, there are many blanks in his description of you."

Clary bent down to pick up her basket before straightening up and looking deep into Sebastian's dark eyes. She thought back of what Jace told her about his best friend. Sebastian was a very incisive person who always thought more than he said. And according to Jace, Sebastian was a master of the words. She knew that his question held more than he was saying, but Clary wasn't ready to give anyone more than what she was willing to tell.

"He knows what he _needs_ to know, just like I for him. Tell me he is not withholding something from me."

She held his gaze, daring him to prove her wrong. But but Sebastian just shook his head, looking down at his feet. Clary refused to think of what this reaction could mean and started to walk deeper into the forest, when Sebastian stopped her by grabbing her arm. She turned around to stare at his hand holding her, and she saw that he was giving her something with his other hand.

"It's a whistle. It calls for Jace's bird."

Clary looked at the golden piece of metal. Golden, just like Jace. She stared at the object as it was swinging on a string in Sebastian's hand, and she hesitated on taking it. She knew that if she took it, it would mean that she was willingly stepping forward in that strange relationship she had with Jace, and she didn't know if she was ready for that. Or even if she wanted it. Sebastian sighed and forced the whistle in her hand before walking away, waving her goodbye.

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

When Jace woke up the morning of his night with Clary, he knew that she was gone even before opening his eyes. Clary didn't like people, and if she could avoid them, she would. He wasn't upset by her departure; he had been expecting it. This was why he took advantage of most of the night to talk with her about everything that passed through his mind. And Clary appeared to be someone even wiser than Sebastian in more than one occasion.

Talking to Clary gave Jace a sort of confidence on how to act on his instincts. More than once, he almost blurted out the truth to her and asked her to come to the Palace with him to become his adviser. But the very idea of Clary in a palace seemed highly ridiculous. Clary belonged to the wild, to the Nature and not in a palace. He couldn't ask her to come live in this world of shadows and lies, locked behind four golden walls.

After Sebastian told Jace about his meeting with Clary in the woods, the boys settled on visiting the town on their own. And Jace was more than surprised by the poverty he witnessed. The Lightwood kingdom was known to be one of the wealthiest, and this wealth was not reflected in their kingdom. For the first time of his life, Jace saw homeless people, and strangely, it angered him. What was King Robert doing?

Why wasn't he taking measures to help his people and improve their living conditions? This was _unacceptable_. Jace hoped that when he would meet the King, he would not find someone dwelling in luxury while his subjects were dying of hunger and unhealthy habitations.

After a few hours of walking around and seeing nothing but pain and misery, Jace told Sebastian that he had seen enough and demanded that they joined back the escort to make a proper entree in the kingdom. Jace didn't share his impressions with Sebastian, keeping for himself the horror that he was feeling, and bottling up to empty his anger at the King once they would meet.

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

"His Majesty, Jonathan Christopher Herondale, Prince of Alicante.

Jace strode forward before stopping in the middle of the room, waiting for King Lightwood to do the same as Sebastian had advised him. He had told him that it was an image, Jace was making a step toward peace, and so the King should do the same, so they could talk as equals.

Jace glanced around at what was supposed to be the most luxurious room and was surprised by what he was seeing. He had been expecting an extravagant luxury, but he saw nothing but humility. The furnitures were wooden, not even covered by a thin layer of gold, and the throne would easily be mistaken by an overlarge chair.

Sebastian was standing by the door, next to the Chancellor, and the only other people in the Consul Room were three guards placed at the right of the King. Jace was a little surprised because he had been expecting to see the Lightwoods children. Or at least the twins as they were the last ones. King Robert had four daughters -that he now had all married to gain powerful and wealthy alliances- and twins. A boy and a girl who were approximatily Jace's age. Prince Alexander Gideon and Princess Isabelle Sophia.

From what Jace had heard in town, the King was keeping them locked in his palace under his close surveillance. Just very few people had ever seen them, and they all said the same thing, the Prince and the Princess could not be distinguished. People said that King Robert wasn't planning on marrying away his last daughter but considering sending her in a convent when her brother would ascend the throne.

Jace looked at King Lightwood raising an eyebrow as Jace stood in the middle of the Consul Room before he got up and walked to Jace. A guard made a movement before being stopped by the King's gaze, and Jace couldn't help but hope. Maybe the King trusted him just a little already.

"I shall say that, given the common history of our kingdoms, I was surprised to read this letter Prince Jonathan Christopher. And I am even more surprised to see you here, standing in front of me, with a small guard of barely a hundred men, without any weapon, and without any knight by your side as you meet me."

Jace didn't have to glance over at Sebastian to know that this one was looking at him disapprovingly. He had told Jace over and over to bring at least one weapon, but Jace had refused saying that they were emissaries of the peace, not war. But now, he was realizing that everyone was armed, even King Robert had a long war sword hanging on his belt, and suddenly, Jace felt naked as a worm. He straightened up to show a confidence that he was definitely not feeling and did his best to ignore the nagging feeling growing inside of him.

"Why should I need war weapons when I come to talk about peace?"

"Because this is how you win kingdoms."

And without any warnings, the guard who had stepped forward earlier jumped on Jace. They rolled on the floor, Jace cursing to not have listened to Sebastian and taken at least a dagger under his clothes. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Sebastian take a poniard from behind his back and anxiously move toward Jace and the guard.

The guard was on top of him, bringing his sword closer to Jace, and Jace thought, that despite his force and his armor, the guard was rather light. Jace threw him on the side, but the guard barely seemed affected by his sudden localization and launched himself toward Jace once again. His sword was left laying on the floor as he tackled Jace on the ground once again.

Jace struggled against the guard's grip before bringing his knee to the stomach of his assailant. Then, as the knight grunted, holding his stomach, Jace spotted a faint in the man's armor and he used it. He punched the back of his hand in the little aperture between the jaw and the armor of his assailant before swiftly getting up.

The King looked at his guard with an obvious worry before narrowing his eyes at Jace. Sebastian started shouting about protocols, but Jace held out his hands. Sebastian stopped himself as Jace walked to him and took the dagger out of his hand, a scowl on his brows. Then he turned to King Robert and threw it for the poniard to plant at his feet.

"I came here to stop a feud and not to start a war. I came here because I believe that peace is possible between our two countries. I am _not_ interested in swallowing your kingdom to make mine wealthier. I just want _peace_."

King Robert looked at Jace, scanning Jace's soul through his electric blue eyes. As he was being examined, Jace couldn't help but notice that the King seemed very old. His thick black hair was punctuated by many white and grey spots, and Jace could easily discern many expression wrinkles due to worry and stress. The guard who had assaulted Jace walked to his King and picked up the knife from the floor to study it, all the while facing his monarch.

"I believe him, Father."

Then the guard removed his helmet and turned around, and Jace's jaw dropped on his chin as a girl's face appeared. From a corner of his mind, he registered that the King didn't seem to appreciate the guard's gesture. The girl's hair was raven black, and long until the middle of her neck, and her eyes were of a light brown, making Jace think of hazelnuts. She had a really thin face with high cheekbones and a chin showing how determined she could be. She was tall, but still seemed to be Jace's age, maybe slightly younger.

And then Jace recalled that this girl dressed as a guard had called the King 'Father'. He looked with more attention at her, but beside the ebony hair, she looked nothing like her father. Jace thought that she was likely to be his last daughter, the one who had a twin brother. And then he realized that Alexander and Isabelle were probably the same person.

King Robert must have invented himself a son to take over his kingdom, his wife having had only girls before dying of childbirth. Jace knew that girls could never reign a kingdom, even under regency, so the King must have raised his last daughter as a boy to ensure the legacy of his kingdom. This would have been perfect if the Princess in question didn't look so much like a girl.

"Maybe I should talk to you then, _Prince Alexander_."

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

Jace held up his fountain pen, hesitating on his next action. What he wanted to do was stupid and ridiculous. By the time he would eventually get an answer, it would be too late. He wished Clary were here, next to him, to give him the confidence he needed. She would probably tell him to ... That was the problem, Jace didn't know what she would tell him.

The accords went smoother than Jace had first expected, thanks to Princess Isabelle who was also very seduced by the idea of peace. They had spent the past couple of days to read over all the common laws their two kingdoms shared, trying to find a diplomatic way to install the peace. And out of nowhere, Princess Isabelle had slammed an archive shut, making a thin layer of dust fly in the air.

"This is useless. We should seldom that like in the old days .Marry me, it's that simple."

"_What_!?"

"You marry me, I go live with you in your kingdom until the Kings are dead, and then I come back here in your name. You will be the King, and I'll just be the Queen who misses her country. Just think about it. This alliance will be stronger than any law we could make up, and the peace would be insured by it. Moreover, no other kingdom would dare attack us. It would be _perfect_."

And now, the more Jace was thinking about it, the more he was seeing the truth of Isabelle's words. This alliance would be perfect. Except that he didn't want it. He already had too much too handle with one kingdom, what was he going to do with two? And every time he was thinking of marriage, Clary's image was flashing in his mind.

Jace shook his head to chase this picture out of it and concentrated on the real problem. Did he want peace so much that he would sacrifice his liberty for it? The Princess seemed like a strong woman, and if one thing was sure, it was that she wasn't stupid. But was Jace ready to spend the rest of his life with her? Just to ensure the peace of their two kingdoms? He tiredly rubbed his eyes before looking down at the blank paper and making up his mind.

'_Dear Clary,_

_Where to begin? Sebastian told me about how he gave a whistle to call on my bird. I hope that you blow it from time to time in the hope of having news from me. He also gave me the flowers for my mother, and for the first time in a long time, I am hoping that she will open her eyes. Just for a few seconds would be enough for me._

_I met a girl a couple of days ago that I am sure you would love. She has the same wit as yours, except that she doesn't sooth the words into people but rather shove them in their faces. I guess that's what happen to girls when they are raised as boys. When I first saw her, she was wearing men's clothes and she almost kicked me to the ground. Almost, let's not forget who the man is here._

_I guess you were right when you said that it was my fault to be surrounded by stupid girls. I had no idea that a girl other than you could make me feel as the biggest moron of them all. And she didn't hesitate to tell me so. At least she didn't call me brat. I guess only you can call me that._

_I wish you could be here right now. I need to take my life in control as you said, and I don't know what to do. What if I make the wrong decision? There's more than me that could be affected by this decision. And strangely my first thought was : what would Clary do?_

_How come you are my first thought and not my best friend? Maybe because I already know what he will tell me. He was raised like me, so of course, we think the same way. Whereas you have your very own way to think and to perceive the world. You think of things no one would think off, but who are so important. Or maybe I just need someone to trust in me right now._

_I hope this letter will find you well, wherever you are, and that we will soon see each other again. I am to come to be back in Alicante within the next couple of days._

_Jace._'

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

**.**

**So, yeah. This is the latest chapter. I do hope you liked it and that it made you wonder about the upcoming ones. Well, tell me all about it.**

**Somone mention something about the ending, and ... I will not tell you. I don't know, I think it would ruin the whole story. Just know that I do both kind of endings (if you've been reading my other story, you know that). **

**Anyway, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise, and thank you for my beta, The EternalDaylightingRanger for correcting my mistakes and making the story more fluent for you guys.**

**Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang**


	6. The Legend of the Red Witch of the Woods

Clary paused outside the small grocery store. As she stepped in, the noisy shop abruptly became silent. Everyone was shamelessly staring at her, and some of the customers brought their children into a protective embrace. Suddenly, Clary became too self-aware by the death-stares that she was feeling on her, but she did her best to deflect their animosity.

She slowly walked to the counter and ignored the angry whispers and looks that were cast upon her. The merchant -who was as bald as can be and wearing a long brown beard - glared at her when Clary greeted him. As he leaned against the counter, his crude and unforgiving eyes bore into Clary's, anger blazing in his voice:

"Get out of my shop!"

Clary did her best to not be affected by the obvious hatred which emanated from the merchant. Cautiously, she tried to explain how peaceful was her purpose here:

"I just want to buy_"

"I'm not selling you anything, you _witch_! Get out of here!"

In one swift movement, the shop-owner was on the other side of the counter. Before Clary could protest, he grabbed Clary by the arm and shoved her out of the door. She stared at the shop for a few seconds, unmoving. Slowly, she put her hood back on and trudged towards the forest. She should have know that she wouldn't be able to buy anything, but she had hoped that, maybe, people were starting to see her differently. She knew it was mostly because if Jace, because he didn't see her as a witch.

"Hey! _You_! What did you need?"

Clary turned around and saw the son if the merchant with whom she usually traded. He straddled the few steps that separated them. Then, he awkwardly smiled to her and scratched the back of his head. Clary had always thought that he was handsome with his deep blue eyes clashing with his tan skin and brown hair, and his little dimple on his right cheek. But what Clary liked most about him was his smile. She liked how his smile seemed contagious and how it always made her feel lighter.

"Ink and a feather."

He nodded and went into the shop, only to come out a few moments later with what she asked, paper in addition. For a second, Clary blankly stared at the boy before taking the items in her hands, her eyes steady on him. She wasn't used to people being nice to her anymore, and so she thanked him, thinking that it was the best thing to do. He smiled to her and said:

"Just ... Don't write spells to curse us or anything."

Clary nodded, internally sighing as she realized that no matter what, people would always believe her to be a witch. She didn't know why, but the fact that this friendly and nice person really thought of her as a witch hurt her a little. He chuckled a little, shaking his head and making his brown curls bounce around his face before he playfully looked at her and told her:

"I was joking. Witches don't look as pretty as you do. I'm Noah by the way."

Clary opened her eyes widely, knowing he was expecting her to give him her name. She blinked a times, which made Noah chuckle even more. He waited a little for her to talk before he shrugged and started walking away as he waved her goodbye. Clary hesitated a few more seconds before surprising herself by blurting in a loud whisper: "I'm Clary."

Noah turned his head to look at her for a few seconds, and then he smiled before leaving. A smile lingering on her lips, Clary slowly walked back to her cabin. As she was doing so, she remembered the day when it all started, the day when people started calling her the Red Witch of the Woods. She had just arrived in the meadow, and she would go to town everyday, and one day a child got sick. She healed him back to life, but, instead of thanking her, people saw in her a witch who used unknowns plants.

But at that time, people still saw in her a good witch. And even though they weren't really fond of her, they still weren't afraid of her. Until the day Maheegan arrived. When Clary took Maheegan under her care, people started to be scared of her and accused her of using dark powers. No one would come to her to get healed, let alone to talk or even look at her anymore. People were litteraly frightened by her and by the 'dark powers' she had over Maheegan.

Clary heaved at the memories and, as she entered her cabin, she quickly glanced at Maheegan who was resting on her bed. They shared a look and she sat on her chair, taking Jace's letter in her hands. She was so confused about this letter. First, because she never expected Jace to write to her, and even less to ask her guidance about his life choices. She thought that her unconventional ways to talk and think had scared him away, but it appeared that Jace didn't mind her difference.

But what really bothered Clary in this letter was the weight it carried. It seemed to her that every word had been thought really carefully, and that any word that she would write back could conceal things she had no idea about. She closed her eyes, thinking of what her father would have done in her place, and then she smiled and started writing.

_'Dear Jace,_

_Even though your letter surprised me, I am still glad that I received it. Strangely, it made me feel that someone out there is thinking of me with enough care to write to me, and it warmed me up. It also reminded me of people I closed off and that I should probably go visit._

_I must admit that I would like very much to meet this acquaintance of yours. Someone who doesn't hold back her thoughts, no matter how bratty you act, is bound to be someone. I hope that if I ever meet her, she will be dressed as a man as well. And maybe she could teach me how to beat you to the ground (or maybe you're not as strong as you think)._

_...'_

Clary didn't get to finish her letter for she heard horses hooves coming toward her cabin. Maheegan snapped his head up, growling, while Clary's heart was beating like a drum. No one ever came to the meadow because no one knew that she lived there. If villagers found the location of her home, she was sure that they wouldn't hesitate in burning her cabin, and her with it.

She shakily went to the door, doing her best to steady her heart, and before she could push the wooden door open, Maheegan was by her side too many ideas in this sentence. Clary opened the door with a confidence that she was not feeling and she hiccuped of surprise when she saw Jace standing on the other side of the door, his hand ready to knock.

They stared at each other for a moment, Clary squeezed between the frame of the door to keep Maheegan inside. She felt him brush her leg demandingly before he gave up in a whimper. Then Clary carefully looked at Jace, and saw the tiredness in his features, the mud on his boots, the traveling cloak on his shoulders. But despite the obvious fact that he just came back from his trip and that he was exhausted from it, Jace still smiled brightly to her as he told her:

"I was hoping to find you here."

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you."

"That's ... _nice_. Do you want to come in?"

Jace's smile grew even wider, and he walked in as Clary opened the door wider for him, for the first time he was entering her cabin on her demand. He was about to ask her if she received his letter when he spotted something that he never saw before:_ a wolf_. Jace flew his right hand to his dagger before freezing in his movement, his eyes steady on the beast with a pure snow white fur and piercing blue eyes.

Clary caught his gaze and frowned as the animal started growling, its hair up on its spine, and before Jace could do anything to stop her, she went to the beast. She gently patted the animal on the head, whispering sweet words in its ear, and then, she took Jace's hand in hers to bring it next to the wolf's jaw.

It was by far the largest wolf Jace ever saw in his life. Its head was up to Jace's waist and Jace didn't doubt for a second that the animal could kill a grown man in one bite. As Jace eyed warily the creature, the world _werewolf_ came to his mind, along with all the legends about how they could rip one's throat in the blink of an eye, or how they were the servants of the ladies of the Dark, the witches.

Jace couldn't understand how Clary, how small, delicate and frail Clary, could not fear being in such a monstrous presence. The wolf could literally kill her just by sitting on her. As she crouched next to the growling wolf, his hand still in hers, Jace realized that he never saw anything that could have led him think that Clary sheltered a wolf. He came several time to Clary's cabin, and never yet he had seen the beast, nor she had mentioned it.

"Maheegan, this is Jace. Jace, this is Maheegan. I took him in three years ago when he was just a little cub, and now he comes back every now and then. Especially in winter."

The wolf sniffed Jace's hand before licking it, smelling Clary's scent mixed with the man's. Clary smiled and scratched at the wolf's head just behind the ears. The animal panted a little, its tongue on the side before he patted away to curl in a ball in a corner.

"Clary, this wolf is _huge_. It could rip your throat in a second."

Clary smiled of pride. When Jace commented on the Maheegan's weight, Clary remembered how small and fragile he was when she took him in. It was during her first winter, she found him left for dead in a small bush, and she didn't have the heart to leave him there. So she took care of the little cub, and raised him as if she was his mother and he became the only company she had until Jace. And now Maheegan was big enough to live on his own, but he still came to see Clary when winter was coming, as if this season was their special time.

Jace looked at Clary watching with love and pride the wolf, and a glimpse of worry started growing in his heart. It was clear to him that the wolf and her had a special bound, but what if one day the beast let its wild side take control?

"What if he jumps at your throat when you least expect it?"

"He won't. I'm his mother. Wolves listen to their mothers." Clary said, assurance in her voice.

"You don't know that."

"I do. I live in the woods. I know how animals live and how they treat each other."

Jace was about to argue again when Clary gave him a strong look. He sighed, not wanting to start an argument when he just came to see her. During the journey back home, it's all he had been able to think about, and now that he was finally seeing her, he didn't want to waste time on a discussion he apparently had already lost. So he just smiled at her and appreciating this moment he was having with her.

"I'm really happy to see you."

"Did you find a solution to your problem?"

Jace smiled as Clary sat on her bed, patting the space next to her, and so he did as she asked. The wolf raised his head as Jace sat, and Jace looked elsewhere than toward the animal. For a second, his eyes almost seemed horribly human. Jace's eyes fell on the wooden table where he saw writing material along with his bird. He noticed that Clary had removed the little cap blinding the black falcon, freeing the bird in a way he never did.

"So, you did read my letter."

"Of course I did. Was I not supposed to?"

"You were. I just wasn't sure that you could read."

This was a thought that had haunted him for the past few days: what if Clary couldn't read? Reading was something very few could do. But when he had written to her, the thought never crossed his mind. Clary seemed so clever and aware of everything, it only appeared normal to Jace that she could read and write.

But now that he was thinking about it, Jace felt that it wasn't normal for Clary to have knowledge of scriptures. He was sure that not even half of the palace inhabitants could write or read, so where did Clary learn this skill? He passed a thoughtful hand through his hair before deciding that he didn't want to know more than he should about Clary.

"So what do you think about it?"

"I think you already have the answer. You just need someone to help you look within your heart. What will be best, Jace? For _you_? What will make you happy? You have to think of that first, because an unhappy person can only spread unhappiness."

Clary looked at Jace, who was frowning, from the corner of her eyes and after a few seconds of hesitation, she took taking his hand in hers. Jace, who seemed completely lost in his thoughts for a moment, looked back at her with a small smile before bringing his free hand to her face and caressing her cheek. His eyes travelled all over her face before he asked her:

"Would you go somewhere with me tonight?"

Clary blinked a little before slowly nodding, which made Jace genuinely smile. Clary surprised herself liking this simple but true smile on his face, and she couldn't help but smile back. Jace's hand was still on her face, bringing her an unknown and yet pleasant warmth. She looked deep into his golden eyes, and she saw them almost glow in the growing night. Softly, Clary brought her hand to Jace's face and moved a few fallen hair back into place.

Jace closed his eyes as his hand tightened around hers and his other hand slowly fell to her nape. Clary saw him clenching his jaw before he opened back his eyes and let go of her. Once again, she blinked a little, and the absence of Jace's touch on her was making her feel as if she was falling from another world.

Jace's touch was warm, and the way his hand rested on Clary's face felt like she meant something to felt special under his gaze. She knew that she was special, she always had been and it wasn't something that she could forget, no matter how hard she tried. But the way Jace made her feel special was different. It was as if she was special to him, and only to him.

Jace coughed to clear his throat and got up. Then, he held his hand out to Clary with a smile. The wolf behind him growled lowly before stopping at once under Clary's hard gaze, and then Clary smiled back at Jace, placing her minute hand in Jace's strong one.

.

**~.o.O.o.**

**.**

**So yeah, here comes a new chapter. I hope you liked it, tell me what you think will happen next. Sorry for the long wait, promise the next chapter will be long and up before the end of the week (well Sunday night). **

**Where do you think Jace will take Clary, and what do you think of Noah.**

**Anyway, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise, and thank you for my beta, ClarissaxJace for correcting my mistakes and making the story more fluent for you guys.**

**Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang**


	7. Under The Stars, And Under The Doubts

Jace took Clary to the Palace, and they didn't exchange a single word along the way. Clary was silently sitting in front of Jace on his steed, but he still noticed that she didn't seem comfortable in her position, and that her first reflex had been to sit as a rider, and not in Amazon. Jace's arm was strongly wrapped around her waist to hold her tight as his other hand was directing the horse through the woods.

No matter how much he tried to think of the hazard of his next action, Jace couldn't take his mind off of Clary's closeness. What had seemed like a good idea to him when he proposed her that they should mount the horse together, appeared to him now like a terrible idea. He was aware of every one of her breaths, of each of her heartbeats, and at every step she was slightly propelled against his hard body, making him clench his jaw a little more at each step.

Once they reached the edge of the forest, Jace thanked every thing that was holly, and swiftly got down the horse before he helped Clary to do the same. Her green eyes, dark in the night, glanced over the castle before studying Jace with that deep look that made her seem so wise. Jace gently smiled at her and uncontrollably brought his hand to her face to remove a lock of her hair.

"This is something I promised myself I would do for you."

She blinked of incomprehension, which made Jace chuckle a little, and then he took her hand and gently lead her into the castle, using one of the secret passages only Sebastian and him had the knowledge of. They climbed the stairs, Jace holding tightly Clary's hand as he lost her in the maze of his home and finally, and after minutes of wander, he opened the small wooden door that led to the highest tower of the palace.

Once outside, Clary gasped, her eyes wide open as she was watching the dark sky with the few stars that the clouds allowed to see. Jace looked at Clary who was smiling of delight as her eyes sparkled of wonder, and he felt like he never made a better decision in his life. This feeling was confirmed when Clary told him, her eyes still on the dark sky:

"Jace... I've travelled a lot in my life, and this is the most beautiful view I've ever had."

"I couldn't agree more."

Clary turned her head, surprised by Jace's tone, but even more by the fact that he was looking at her instead of the sky. She smiled to hide her discomfort and swiftly turned around to look at the tower. Her smile grew wider when she saw the balustrade, and she started to climb so she could stand on the roof. Jace's eyes went out of their sockets when he understood what she was doing, and he tried to make her understand reason for he had been raining for a major party of the day.

"Clary, the roof is slippery."

"_Come on_ Jace, it's what makes it more interesting."

She pretended to lose her balance before bursting in laughter as Jace gasped of fear and she sat on the balustrade, laying her back on the cold and wet tiles. Jace sat next to her, seeing her for the first time completely free as her soft and peaceful breathing echoed in the night. They stayed an instant silent, looking for stars in the clouded sky, when Clary finally spotted the star she was looking for, and pointed it to Jace.

"This star is the Star of Kings."

"How do you know that?"

"If I know how to read and write, don't you think that I also know about History?"

Jace tore his gaze away from the sky to look at Clary, dumbfounded. The fact she knew how to write was already a big information to swallow, but now she was telling him that she knew about History. And a part of him didn't like it. He didn't want Clary to be erudite, because the knowledge she was displaying was bringing too many unpleasant questions. He just wanted Clary to be Clary, _his_ Clary, his little fairy that he found in the woods.

"So tell me more about this Star?" Jace asked, still curious of what she had to say about this particular Star.

"They say that long ago, very long ago, all kingdoms were united under a same banner, under a same King. They say that this King was good, but obsessed with increasing his kingdom, and so he was always at war to gain more territories and enslave more countries.

One day, the King decided that he would go overseas to enlarge even more his kingdom, and he conquered Palvis, Ylkis and Idris, the Three Lonely Islands. Idris was the furthest island, and when the King decided to go back to his home country, his ship got lost at sea. As he was wandering on the salty water, the King looked up desperately to the sky, hoping to find a way back to his wife and nine sons.

_This_ Star shone bright and high for him, and even kept on shining during the day. But when the King came back home, his wife deceived him. She poisoned him so she could rule on the Empire that the King had fought so hard to build. The poison took days to proceed, and during those days, he protected his legacy, editing a law that forbad any female to ever rule under any circumstances.

On his last day, during his last breath, he gave each of his nine sons a kingdom to rule, and told them that if they were ever in doubt, they should only look up in the sky, to the brightest star, where he would be waiting for them."

"That's approximatively what I've been told too."

Jace was about to ask Clary where she learned this knowledge when part of the legend echoed loudly in his head. The solution he had desperately been looking for was there, in this legend. He made a mental note to have Sebastian looking for the exact scripture, and let a small smile of satisfaction grow on his lips.

"I think it's just a myth to keep women out of politics." said Jace.

"That's what I think too. I don't see why a loving wife with already nine children would want to bother ruling an Empire. She has other things to deal with."

Jace chuckled at Clary's tone before gently slipping her hand in his, both still looking at the clouded sky. She seemed more disturbed by the number of children than by the fact that a legend made sure that no woman could rule. This was one of the things Jace liked about Clary. She was seeing the simple things that everyone else was leaving aside. And it made Jace even more curious about where she could come from.

"Clary?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you always live in this meadow? In this kingdom?"

Clary sat up and looked deeply into Jace's eyes before bringing her knees to her chest and resting her chin on them. She looked at the horizon, lost in her thoughts and memories. It has been so long since she thought of this place she had once called home.

"I used to live elsewhere. With my family. And we were happy. We were _so_ happy. I don't have a single unhappy memory about this time of my life.

But one day, my father started being sick. You have to understand, my father was a good man, a very good man. He always respected everyone around him, he never talked down on me because I was a child or because I was a girl, he always did his best to make his family smile. He loved us. He even _adored_ us. Anything we would ask, he would do for us. He always did his best to give us the time that we'd ask of him. He was just perfect.

And he got sick out of nowhere. He started coughing a lot blood, losing his hair -I loved his hair so much, it was a bit like yours, thick, silky, smooth. His skin started to get yellow, he started to drift into sleeps that could last days, even weeks. Of course everything came little by little. But as soon as he started coughing blood, we ... Let's just say that we left for the greater good.

We didn't want to go to any kingdom in particular because you know how difficult it is to justify your presence so we settled in a meadow. One on the other side of the Lightwood kingdom. It is so beautiful. Full of yellow chrysanthemums and black roses. It was probably a sign, but we didn't see it. We just wanted to settle down so my father could rest and get better.

My mother and I took care of him, we fought to bring him back to life, and for a few moons it worked. But then ... Then ... he d... died. In his sleep. Without being able to say goodbye, he just left us! And I left the meadow to come live here, because I couldn't follow my father in his last journey ..."

Clary hid her face in her arms, unable to go on, and Jace, who sat up in his turn, rested a comforting hand in her shoulders. They stayed like that for a indefinite time, Jace circling gently Clary's back as the memories came back flooding to her. It had been such a long time she didn't think of her father's death, she usually preferred thinking of her happy times with him. Like when he taught her to ride a horse, or when he showed her how to hold a dagger.

When she was sure that she could reign over her emotions and memories, Clary looked up to Jace, grateful that he didn't try to ease her pain with words, but still comforted her with his presence. The wind started to blow a soft brisk, clearing the clouded sky above them.

They looked at each other in silence, Jace watching Clary's pale skin almost glow under the pale moon. Her green eyes were shining emeralds in the night, and he slowly brought his hand to her face as he gently leaned toward her. He saw Clary swallow of anticipation, but she never tore her gaze away, and suddenly her enchanting eyes grew wide, spotting something behind him.

"Jace! It's the full moon!"

Jace raised an eyebrow, not quite understanding what the full moon had to do with the two of them on a rooftop. She had seemed so perfect at this moment that all he had been able to think about was kissing her. And the idea was still vivid in his mind, pleasant and tempting.

"_Your mother_! You have to give her the infusion!"

Jace's attention snapped at that, and he got up as swiftly as he could, considering they were still on the slippery roof. It wasn't the first time that someone was selling him a miracle cure for his mother, but this time he was allowing himself to really hope because he trusted Clary. He believed that she was magical enough to bring him this one miracle.

Jace descended the balustrade and held Clary's waist tight when she did the same. But as he was about to open the old wooden door, Jace stopped himself and turned to ask Clary:

"Would you come with me?"

Jace let out a breath he didn't even realized holding when Clary nodded and he smiled to her of relief and hope before telling her: "Just wait for me. I'll be back in a second."

Clary nodded again, and watched Jace disappear behind the wooden door. Then she looked back at the horizon and appreciated the sight. The sky was still dark as could be, but she could still distinguish the silhouette of the forest. As she looked at the outlines of the tallest trees, Clary tried to hear all those small noises that were now familiar to her. But of course, she heard nothing. She was too far to hear the owl's hoot, the noise of the leaves brushed by the wind, or the wolves howling to the moon.

Thinking of wolves made Clary think of Maheegan, and of Jace's reaction toward him. Jace didn't look at the wolf with fear and apprehension, but rather with curiosity and anticipation. Jace had been scared _for_ her and not _of_ her, and this made Clary smile. As her lips started to spread, Clary realized that it was something that happened a lot. The thought of Jace made her smile, not only physically, but also with her heart. And she liked it. She liked smiling at the idea that Jace could care about her enough to bring a smile on her face.

The door opened behind her, and she twirled only to see Jace looking at her, anticipation and anxiety gleaming in his golden eyes. She walked to him, and as soon as she was at his level, he took her hand in his and led her through the castle, not bothering to take a torch for he knew the way by heart. As they silently walked side by side, Jace was comforted in his idea, he didn't like seeing Clary in a castle. She didn't belong there, and it felt like the walls were already trying to confine her. Clary belonged to the wild and its beauty, and not to a Palace filled with lies and shadows.

When they reached his mother's door, Jace saw that the guards left, just like he had ordered them, and so they entered. It was a really small room, nothing fitting for a queen, but officially, the Queen was dead. The room was only guarded by two trustworthy Knights and a maid who kept the Queen as alive as she could. Maid who was still in the room when Jace had specifically asked to be left alone with his mother. He glared at the maid and pointed the door.

"_Out_!"

The maid stared at Clary for a while before leaving under Jace's angry gaze. Jace glanced at Clary, hoping that she didn't understand more than he wanted her. But she seemed hypnotized by his mother. She slowly walked to the bed and took in her hands the small bowl where his mother's medicine was poured. She brought it to her face and sniffed it, a frown tainting her delicate face. Jace watched her dipping her little finger and tasting the green mixture before she looked up to him, something indescribable in her eyes.

"Do you trust me?" Clary asked as she kept her features unreadable.

Jace nodded and so Clary took the satchel of blue petals out of his hands. But instead of dipping them in hot water like she said he should, she chewed the dried flowers until she obtained a blue paste that she dilated with clear and fresh water. Then she took a cloth and soaked it in the mixture before wringing it on Jace's mother's mouth. Jace watched her slowly empty the preparation with care and delicacy, and when the bowl was finally void, Clary detached her gaze from his mother to look at him and warn him.

"When she'll wake up, make sure she avoids any kind of mushrooms. And also make sure that she drinks an infusion of blue flowers once a week. I will give you more."

"Thank you, Clary."

She gave him a small smile to dismiss his thankfulness and walked to Jace. They stared at each other for a while before Jace took Clary in his arms and made her spin in the air. Never yet he had put so much hope in his mother's condition, but something inside of him told him that Clary would bring his mother back to life. When he steadied them, Jace had his back facing his mother, and he was still holding Clary by her arms. She longly looked at him, her eyes gleaming with many emotions that he did not understand, and then she brought her hand to his chest, bending her head a little.

"Jace, I'm going away for a while."

Jace lifted her head up with his hand, not removing it when their eyes locked again. He looked at her green emeralds analyzing his face and he repressed himself from asking why she was leaving once again. He wanted to know, but he didn't want to rip the information out of Clary. Still, she seemed to understand his silent question because she explained to him the reason of her trip:

"I'm going to see my own mother. But if you travel in another kingdom for business, do write me."

"I already told, I'm not a merchant, Clary."

"And yet you travelled to the Lightwood kingdom. If you ever do something like that, maybe we'll meet again."

Jace smiled, gently caressed her right cheek, and, on a brusk impulse, he leaned in and kissed her other cheek. Clary opened big wide eyes, jumping a few feet away from Jace and blushing, her hand on her cheek. She seemed completely shocked, which made Jace chuckle at her cuteness.

"I should really go now." Clary said in a husked tone.

Jay smirked and promised himself that they would see again. He would make sure of it, and he told her: "I'll see you before you'll know it."

Clary rushed to the door and fled Jace who was still smirking at her. He was about to go after her, just to make sure that she wouldn't run into anyone, but a small voice froze him in space.

"Jonathan?"

Jace turned around and saw his mother's golden eyes. The same ones that he had inherited. In less than a second he was kneeling at her bed, taking her hand firmly in his and not believing this miracle that was happening. His mother shakily brought her hand to his face and caressed it, her eyes starting to water as she smiled of delight.

"You've grown _so much_."

"Shush mother. Don't exhaust yourself. Just rest."

Jace shook his head, wanting his mother to keep her strength. He was so scared to see her drift back to this sleep that had deprived him of a loving mother. The Queen smiled to him and kept on caressing his face as Jace couldn't get enough of this motherly touch.

"I'm so glad to see you again." Jay said, trying to keep emotions out of his voice.

Jace noticed his mother looking around and knew that she was wondering where was her husband. Jace didn't want his father right now, Jace still couldn't forgive him for bailing on his mother when she most needed him. But still, he kissed his mother's forehead and went to the door where was faithfully sitting the maid that he dismissed. She looked at him expectantly and he remembered that she had disobeyed him.

"Go wake the King. The Queen is asking for him." Jace ordered.

She eagerly nodded and started walking away when Jace stopped her.

"Tessa, who you saw today is not to be repeated to the King. No one ever came to the Queen's room. Did I make myself clear?"

The maid nodded and Jace let her go to the King before hurrying back to his mother's side and taking her hand back in his with care. He couldn't stop smiling to her, thanking in his heart Clary and the magic that she just displayed. She really _was_ a fairy, she granted him his most secret wish, and she did it without ever questioning him.

His mother kept on looking at him. She was now sitting up on her bed and she played with his hair, her smile never living her face. They stayed silent a moment, only appreciating this miracle that was given to them.

"Who was that girl that you kissed?" The Queen asked, curious of this girl who made her son smile like that.

Jace did his best to seem untouched by this question, but it still shook him that his mother startled him like that. He wanted to keep Clary for himself, and he mostly didn't want to explain her. He didn't want to admit to anyone what he refused to admit to _himself_.

"She's the fairy who brought you back to life, but don't tell anyone." Jace responded, trying to pass it as a joke. The Queen frowned, apparently bothered by his hesitation and then she sadly said:

"I've missed so much of your life."

"It's okay. There's still plenty to see."

Jace smiled to her, rejoiced by this perspective of seeing his mother again the next day when he'll wake up. She was about to say something, but the door bursted open, revealing King Stephan followed by Tessa. The King stood frozen by the door, looking at his awaken wife, shock written on his face. Shakily he walked toward the Queen's bed, not daring blinking.

"Celine?"

His wife smiled to him, and Jace's father fell on his knees, taking the Queen's hands in his. He seemed on the verge to cry, and Jace found himself placing himself in his father's place. Jace always resented him for never showing any emotions toward his mother and even declaring her officially dead. But as the King, Stephan had to show that he didn't have any kind of weakness. He couldn't let his kingdom know of how desperate he was to be by his sick wife's side. But still, Jace wished that his father had shared his pain with him, his son.

"_How_?"

Celine smiled, her hand on her husband's face, and after quickly glancing at Jace and seeing him tensed waiting for her answer, she only said:

"A fairy visited me."

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

Clary read again and again the letter she just wrote, still unsure on what to do next. Should she act on her instinct or not? She hesitated all day long, but finally decided herself when the sun started to redden. She swallowed hardly and took her basket before releasing Jace's bird for him to go back to his master. Then she secured her letter in her cloak and patted her tight for Maheegan to follow her.

She determinedly walked to the town, telling Maheegan to wait for her when they reached the edge of the forest. Clary knew how much people didn't like the wolf's presence, and she didn't want them to start being violent toward him because she knew Maheegan would react just as violently.

Once in town, she walked to her usual trading place where she found the merchant who always did business with her. He looked at her with shock and wariness as she retrieved her hood as a gesture of deference toward him. The merchant looked nothing like his son. He was rather short and had short blond hair with grey highlights. His skin was really clear compared to Noha's dark and his smile was anything but friendly. The only thing that linked them to one another was their eyes. They had the same deep blue eyes that made Clary think of the deep blue of the night.

"What do you want?" The merchant asked, shocked to see her so soon after their last acounter.

"Can I talk to Noah, please?" Clary pleaded, keeping as much respect and politeness in her voice.

The merchant didn't seem surprised by her request, but still looked at Clary from head to toe. Then he looked at the ceiling and shouted his son's name before looking back at Clary. They heard someone tumbling down the stairs before Noah appeared behind his father. He smiled when he saw Clary, his smile reaching his eyes and automatically making Clary's lips twitch upward a little.

"_Clary_! What a nice surprise!" Noah be aimed before he walked to her and Clary bent her head goodbye to his father as she headed outside. Noah followed her there, but when he spotted the villagers staring at them, he took Clary in the backyard where no one could see them. Once they were alone, he looked at Clary fidgeting her fingers before looking up at him, biting her lips.

"Can I ask you a favor?" She ask, desperation echoing in her voice.

"Sure." Noah responded, wondering what made Clary come ask for his help. She took out of her cloak a rolled letter and gave it to Noah.

"Can you go to the Palace and give this to Sebastian? Make sure you give it to him and no one else. Just _Sebastian_. He's tall and he has really dark hair, just like his eyes. He has a strong musculature and always carries a dagger on the left side of his back. Don't tell him it's from me, _especially_ if people are around him. And don't give it to anyone but him."

Noah frowned at Clary's request, she seemed completely panicked by the mention of this letter. He knew he was going to do it, it was nothing, but he still wondered what business Clary had with anyone from the Palace. _Especially_ Clary. She was pure, and she knew better than to patronize with the selfish people living in the castle. And then, something else startled Noah.

"Sure Clary ... But why don't you do it?"

"I don't want to go near the palace. Please promise me you'll give it to him."

"I will. Don't worry." Noah promised.

Clary smiled of relief, and Noah smiled back, happy to finally see her smile. She told him that she should go, and so Noah took the letter. As she gave it to him, she once again pleaded him with her eyes, and Noah reassured her that he would fulfilled his mission. He watched her walking back to the woods, and swore that he saw a flash of white rushing to her before she got swallowed by the forest.

Noah walked back in the shop to take his cloak under his father's interrogating eyes. But Noah just shook his head and took a lantern before walking to the Palace. As he was nearing the royal castle, Noah noticed that the route was busier than usual. Once in front of the Palace, Noah saw many carriages that weren't wearing the Herondale symbol which stroke him as odd.

He warily walked toward a guard, aware that their number had doubled, and as soon as he was spotted, Noah was hailed by a Knight who demandingly stopped him. "What is your business here?"

"I have some business to attend with Sebastian." Noah lied effortlessly.

The guard didn't seem startled by the name which allowed Noah to understand that Sebastian was someone who was quite important in the Palace. But still, the watchman stayed in his position, indicating Noah that he would not go get Sebastian for him.

"He owes me money. Don't make me require an audience with the King with something we can settle just fine. Especially since everyone is so busy around here."

The Knight hesitated a few seconds before disappearing in the castle, leaving Noah on the front. As he was waiting, Noah wondered who was Sebastian to the Palace, and more importantly, who he was to Clary. She didn't have any friends in this kingdom because of what people thought she was and because who she was to begin with.

A few moments later, the Knight was back, followed by a black haired man. His dark eyes were narrowed at Noah, and Noah gave him the letter before Sebastian could tell him that he would be thrown to prison for lying about Sebastian's so-called debt. "I have a letter for you."

Sebastian took the letter and unrolled it, wondering from whom it could be. But his worries went elsewhere as he started reading the letter.

_'Dear Sebastian,_

_I am so sorry to put this unto you, but I didn't know toward who else to turn, and I didn't want to be the one to tell Jace._

_As you are reading this letter, Jace's mother must certainly be awake and feeling better. Last night Jace asked me to help him take care of her, and as I went in her room, I noticed a beverage that had no place there. If you ever went to see Jace's mother, you must know which liquid I am talking about._

_This preparation is made from a special fungus that is extremely rare and doesn't grow on this land. The land needs to be salty, like on littorals or islands. And this fungus is actually really deadly. If prepared properly, it can kill a horse within seconds, if concocted with a certain amount of water, it can put people in deep sleeps. This fungus is usually used by doctors when they need to operate, but even them use it with reluctance because it can kill after one too many administration._

_Maybe I am wrong, maybe I didn't recognized properly the mixture. But the way I applied the remedy is always how doctors do it to wake their patients, and I think it worked._

_I didn't tell Jace about my suppositions because I might be wrong, and I don't want to be the one to tell him that someone tried to kill his mother. He missed her too much, he loves her too much for me to stain this happy state he must be in now._

_Once again, I am sorry to drop this news on you, but I had to tell someone, and you are the closest person to Jace. Please take care of him and make sure his mother avoids mushrooms. I really do hope that I am wrong, but in case I am not, look out for them. Please._

_Clary.'_

Sebastian read the letter twice, refusing to believe what he was reading at first. He knew that Clary came to the Palace yesterday night, Jace had told him that she was the reason why the Queen was finally awake -even though no one was aware of that officially. Sebastian had so many questions flooding his mind, he needed to talk face to face to Clary and so he asked the messenger about her whereabouts, Jace having told him that she was to travel: "Where is she?"

"I don't know who you're talking about."

Sebastian narrowed his eyes at the young man, not liking his defensive tone. Sebastian observed the messenger, taking in the fact that he couldn't be in any way related to Clary. His skin was lightly dark when Clary's was pale white. His eyes were deep blue contrarily at Clary's bright green ones. And beside that, they looked nothing alike.

"Who are you to Clary?" Sebastian asked, a frown growing on his brows.

"Her friend."

"She doesn't have friend." Sebastian pointed out, not liking the defensive tone the boy was using.

"That she knows of. I won't tell you where she is."

Sebastian looked again at the letter, unsure of what to do. He knew that his loyalty and duty toward the King obligated Sebastian to inform his monarch of this information. But what about his loyalty toward Jace? If he told the King that someone had been trying to slowly murder the Queen, King Stephan would ask to read the letter, and so he would ask question about the author.

Sebastian nodded at the young man to dismiss him before going back to the castle, hiding the letter beneath his cloths. He couldn't afford to think about this awful news now. Princess Isabelle just arrived today to settle this agreement Jace and her made, and he had to focus on that, even though his insides were tight in knots.

As he was walking through the castle, Sebastian stopped himself in the staircases and sat on the steps, taking his head in his hair. Clary was right, it was a lot to put upon him. He didn't even doubt her judgement. He knew that Jace trusted her, and he trusted Jace. But how was he suppose to deal with that?

"Sebastian?"

Sebastian raised his head and looked at Princess Isabelle standing in front of him while he was regaining possession of his features. He shockingly took in her dress and reminded himself that she was a girl. During their whole stay at the Lightwood kingdom, the Princess had walked around in man's clothing, and he had grown accustomed to it. Seeing her now dressed as any princess would be felt odd to Sebastian.

He got up and gallantly proposed his arm to their guest. Then he walked her to the reception room, and for a little while they both stayed silent, both lost in their thoughts as they walked through the castle.

"How is the Prince?" The Princess asked out of nowhere, curiousity in her voice.

"Fair. He might be young and unexperienced, but he is fair."

The Princess chuckled a little before shaking her head. Sebastian kept his head straight, looking in front of him, wondering how 'fair' Jace would be if he learned that someone was plotting to kill his mother.

"I meant as a person? Is he kind? Is he sweet?"

"Why are you asking me those questions?" Sebastian asked, not liking where those questions where going.

"I'm going to have to live with him."

"We both know that he won't marry you."

Sebastian couldn't help but smirk at this statement. He knew Jace's feelings toward this marriage (he had even asked him to looked deep into legends and decrees to avoid this wedding). And Sebastian knew that the Princess was just as eager as Jace in this matter. Just the way she asked about him proved that she proposed this out of duty, and not because she wanted it. The Princess stopped talking, making Sebastian also stop.

"We do... Is it because of someone else?" She said, her feminine instincts poking on dangerous zones.

Sebastian hesitated himself. He knew Jace didn't want to marry the Princess, but Jace never told him if it was because he didn't want to have the responsibilities of two kingdoms or if it was because of Clary. Jace could deny it all he wanted, Clary was growing in him. The simple fact that he rushed to see her before they even arrived back in the castle was proof enough.

"So there _is_ someone else. Is she living in the palace?" The Princess pryed. Sebastian repressed himself from heaving and then bent down to the Princess.

"I didn't say anything about anyone. Now Princess, if you don't mind, I'm going to look for the Prince."

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

**.**

**That was one long chapter. I hope you liked it. Very ... emotional? I don't know. Tell me what you thought about it, it would mean a lot to me because you know, it was kinda of my first story ever. **

**Anyway, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise, everything else is mine.**

**Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.**


	8. The Birth of a King

**Go check my profile, there I explain why I am so late in the update.**

**~.o.O.o.**

Sebastian carefully watched Clary's letter turn into ashes in the library's chimney. As the paper carbonated away, Sebastian thought of what he should do. Wether he should investigate on his own and give the culprit to the King once found, or wether he should tell the King about his suspicions concerning the Queen's 'illness'.

He didn't doubt Clary's word for a second, trusting her judgement and her diagnosis, and that was what really scared him. If Clary said that the Queen had been poisoned all along, it meant that someone wanted to get rid of the sovereign. And the more he tried to find out who it could be, the less confident Sebastian felt on finding the felon.

The Queen had always been a good person. She always had been the one to bring reason to the King. Over the years, before she fell ill, she softened her husband and turned him into a more peaceful man. Even though he never lived those times, Sebastian knew about the ruthlessness that King Stephan showed in his young years, sending soldiers to conquer lands that he desired and showing no mercy toward his the Queen's death would only have brought the kingdom back to this state of constant war.

Sebastian heaved before walking away from the chimney and toward the health section of the library. Then he took all the books related to fungus and tried to find the one Clary referred too. After hours of reading, and books piling up in front of him, Sebastian finally found a description of the mushroom he was looking for.

Just like Clary said the fungus only grew on salty ground and could be deadly if not concocted properly. Sebastian thoroughly read every informations that the book gave him about this mushroom and he frowned. Whoever wanted to poison the Queen had to travel on a regular basis to provide themselves with the deadly fungus. And the only kingdom where it could be found was the Wayland one, the Three Lonely Islands being avoided for any sort of trade.

Sebastian kept on staring at the small representation of the fatal plant for the rest of the night and when the sun started to rise, he decided on what he would do next. He marked the page and closed the book before heading to the Council room where he knew he would find the King. As Sebastian entered the room, he sighed of relief when he saw that Jace wasn't here, but felt slightly annoyed that his monarch wasn't alone.

He bowed of deference as he was meant to, and then Sebastian asked his King:

"May I have an audience with you, your Majesty?" King Stephan nodded, but neither the guards or the Intendant made a move to leave, so Sebastian specified: "In _private_?"

The King narrowed slightly his eyes to Sebastian before dismissing everyone with a simple wave of his hand. When they all left the room, Sebastian closed the door behind them and then closed all the windows. Then he regained his former position in front of the King who was looking at him with suspicion and curiosity.

"I would like to speak freely to you without any repercussions." Sebastian said. King Stephan longly examined him before signalling him to go on and so Sebastian warily informed the King of his doubts: "It came to my attention that the Queen might have been poisoned."

First, the King didn't move, taking in the information. Sebastian waited, and soon, the seconds became minutes before his monarch finally snapped out of his state of stupor and straightened up on his throne. His eyes never left Sebastian's, and suddenly Sebastian wondered if it had been a good idea to notify his monarch about truth of the Queen's 'illness'.

Finally the King spoke, his face stern as he said: "Those are grave accusations, Sebastian. Do you have any proof of what you're advancing?"

Sebastian nodded and walked the distance separating them before showing to King Stephan the book that he had studied all night long. The monarch took the book, reading thoroughly the deadly mushroom's description, and after a few more minutes of silence, the King shook his head as he pointed out:

"It says here that you need a special concoction to thwart the negative effects. The Queen woke up on her own."

"The Queen had been administrated a remedy without your knowledge." Sebastian informed his King. "Under the Prince's orders. He doesn't want you to know because he went through unconventional ways to get this cure."

"Does he know?" King Stephan asked, obviously referring to his son and the fact that the Queen had been poisoned. Sebastian shook his head, all the while saying:

"No. I thought that you should know first."

"Good. Don't tell him." The monarch said, getting up of his throne and pace in the room, his hands concernedly locked in his back. After several back and forth, the King looked up to Sebastian and told him: "I want you to investigate on who could have done such a villainy, but you are not to tell the Prince about any of this."

"So you believe me?" Sebastian asked, slightly surprised that the King didn't try to question him more. King Stephan breathed in deeply before walking back to his throne and saying:

"Why shouldn't I? I trust you, Sebastian."

"I will need a pass to the Wayland kingdom. It's the only place where the fungus could have been traded safely."

The King acquiesced and Sebastian bowed, ready to take his leave when his sovereign interrupted him:

"Did the Prince tell you what he intended to do about the Lightwood Princess?"

Sebastian bit his lower lip for he had hoped not to be asked this question. He knew that Jace wasn't intending on marrying Princess Isabelle, but he didn't want to the one to tell the King.

"He did not share his exact intentions on this matter, my King. But I know that the Prince has the kingdom's best interest at heart and that he will do anything to make the peace exists between our two kingdoms."

The King longly observed Sebastian before nodding and allowing him to leave. Sebastian internally sighed and walked out of the Council room. But just as he was about to open the door, he turned to the King one last time and said:

"And, your Majesty? The Prince will come to you with a project that I strongly recommend."

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

Jace was standing in the library, looking at the forest through the window and wondering where could be Clary. It was heavily raining, and the clouds were dark grey, despite the fact that it was the early afternoon. Jace's eyes were hypnotised by a red flying leaf, fighting its way against the wind and the rain, and suddenly, a door clacked behind him, startling him out of his thoughts.

He turned and saw the Princess Isabelle looking expectantly at him as she walked to stand next to him. Jace returned his attention to the window, perfectly aware that he had done his best to avoid the Princess ever since she arrived in the Palace.

They both stayed silent for a moment, each lost in their thoughts, and then the Princess said:

"We're not even married yet, that you already treat me like your old uninteresting wife."

Jace blankly smiled to the window before he placidly told the Princess his thoughts on their arrangement: "This is not a solution, but a problem. I don't want to marry you."

The Princess didn't say anything and barely seemed affected by what he said, and then she turned her back to the window and went to sit on one of sofa next to the chimney. Jace tore his gaze away from the window to look at his guest, expecting her to at least _try_ to change his mind, but she only looked at him and waited for him to explain himself.

"I will keep my promise to you. I will preserve peace as long as you will." He promised.

The Princess darkly chuckled as she pointed out: "_I_, will do nothing. My kingdom will fall in someone else's hands. If not yours, it will be another prince. One who might not be as lenient toward peace as you."

"No. _You_ will rule your own kingdom. I will make sure of it." Jace pledged once again before he went on: "I will help you sit on the throne that is rightfully yours. You have my word. You and I live in a time where we shouldn't care about stupid rules made out of legends."

"Why would you help me to get on the throne?" Princess Isabelle suspiciously asked, her face emotionless, even though her voice betrayed the hope that she was building. Jace smiled at this sparkle of hope he heard, and then he truthfully answered:

"Because only you can provide me the peace I'm seeking."

"Even though I'm a woman?"

"Because you're a woman."

The Princess seemed lost in her thoughts for a moment before she got up and walked back to Jace. Once she was only inches away from him, she longly observed him, analysing his face with determination before she stuck her hand out to him to firmly shake his as she said with a bright smile:

"Well, I think we have a deal, here."

Jace smiled back before looking back at the window, looking for his flying red leaf, but it was long gone. His golden eyes remained on the rainy scenery as the Princess curiously asked:

"Still, I'd like to know why you don't want to marry me?"

"I just told you_" Jace started, but she cut him off:

"Politics aside. Is it because of ... my upbringing?"

"No. I just don't see myself with you, Princess."

The Princess nodded before she walked through the library, looking at the different books on the shelves. From times to times, she picked up a book to look at its cover, and then, after minutes of complete silent, she lightly said:

"Sebastian talked about a girl."

Jace missed a breath, but did not give the Princess the satisfaction to look at her. He kept his gaze steady on the window as he firmly replied: "He couldn't have. There is no girl."

"Your shoulders say otherwise."

Jace breathed in deeply through his nose, all the while cursing Sebastian and his big mouth to die in some painful way, and then he clarified the situation to the Princess:

"Girl or not, I wouldn't marry you. Politically, I don't want to add the responsibility of another kingdom on my shoulders. Humanly, I don't even know you, and I don't see myself tied up with you until the rest of my days."

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

"Are you _mad_?" King Stephan asked, his eyes popping out of their sockets as he stared at his son from the other side of the dining table. Jace repressed himself from rolling his eyes, wishing that Sebastian could be here to help him.

It had been a week since the Lightwood Princess left with Jace's promise to help her access her throne, and surprisingly, the King did not utter a single objection to their plans. He gave Jace complete control of this situation, something toward which Jace was grateful.

But now, Jace was talking to his father about a project that had been blooming in his mind for quite a while, and toward which the King didn't seem willing to agree. Once again, Jace wished Sebastian were there to help him, but the King had sent him to the Wayland kingdom to discuss trading affairs.

"Your mother just woke up." The King resumed with a patronising tone, hoping to make his son see reason. Jace did his best to stay calm and he quietly said:

"I know. That's why I'm not asking for a year and only for a couple of months."

"'_Only_'?" King Stephan repeated with disbelief. "What is wrong with you? You have anything anyone could wish for and you still complain about 'freedom'!"

"I just want to see the world the way everybody does."

"You are not _anybody_!" The King cried out, brusquely smacking his hand on the table, making his cutlery fall on the floor. One of the maids rushed to his side and picked them up from the floor, but the King quickly dismissed her, his eyes glaring at his son as he vehemently told him: "You are _my son_! You are the _Prince_, and not some random person of this kingdom!"

"And that's why I'll never make a good king!" Jace snapped back. "How am I suppose to know what my kingdom needs when I stay hidden behind these walls? How am I suppose to rule if I don't know what my people really need or want?"

"Are you implying that I am a bad king?"

"No." Jace calmly answered, doing his best to keep the atmosphere smooth. "I'm saying that you're an old king. Times change, and kings need to do the same. That's why I want to do this journey."

"I won't allow my sole heir to wander alone in the roads of uncertain kingdoms." The King proclaimed, making Jace roll his eyes as he objected:

"And I won't allow an escort to follow me!"

King Stephan looked deeply in his son's determined eyes, and Jace saw in his father's eyes that behind the King, there was a worried father who seemed to care about him. He waited an instant for his father to say something, and after what seemed like an eternity to Jace, the King said:

"Wait until Sebastian gets back. We will settle the matter then."

"But_" Jace started to object, but his father cut him off, raising his hand in a firm indisputable way as he declared:

"_Enough_! If you want to act like a future king, you _will_ learn patience. I said that the matter is closed until Sebastian's return!"

.

**~.o.O.o.~**

.

'_Dear Clary,_

_I hope that this letter will find you in good health. I don't know if you already are at your mother's, but if you are, I hope that you enjoy to the most the time that you have with her. I am sure that if you are already there, your mother doesn't want to let you go, but I hope that she will eventually. Just so we can still meet somewhere in the forest._

_I realise that I should have offered you my horse when you told me that you were to travel, but at that moment, my mind was mesmerised by something else. And then, my mother woke up. Thanks to you. _

_She is feeling a little stronger by each day that passes, and I will never be thankful enough for what you did for me. More than giving me back my mother, you gave me back my father also. The wakening of my mother made us all stronger and reunited this family that I thought long gone._

_I am planning to travel for a couple of moons, but it is not sure yet. But if I do, maybe I will see you on the road. I hope I will, and when we do, maybe you will show me the world in that simple way that you see it._

_With care,_

_Jace.'_

.

**~.o.O.o.**

**.**

**Another chapter that I hope you liked. I know Clary isn't there, and she won't really be there in the next chapter either, but that's how the story is. And see, no Jizzy, or whatever it is. **

**So? Here are my questions: who do you think poisoned the Queen? Where do you think Jace will go? Where is Clary? How will end the story(the person who guesses before chapter 10 will have an entire fanfic made just for them, but I don't think you'll find out).**

**It feels so weird to write down this story, and to talk about with my sisters (mostly because those idiots forgot the whole story but the end...), and sometimes I feel like it's a bit childish. Or maybe it's just because I was just a child when I invented that story. Okay, stop rambling, and enjoy.**

**Anyway, Cassandra Clare owns the Mortal Instruments franchise.**

**Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang**


End file.
